[Photograph
above:-
INDEX
701 TWO KINDS OF GROWTH
By Arlen L. Chitwood.
702 THE BLIND WATCHERS
By Alexander Maclaren, D.D. LITT. D.
703 DIVISION IN THE EYES OF GOD AND MAN By Derek Rous.
704 RUN TO WIN
705 LOSSES AND GAINS By Derek Rous
706 WEALTH IN THE LAST DAYS By D. M. Panton, B.A.
707 THE SERMON ON THE MOUNT
By Robert Govett, M.A. (From Matt.
7: 24.)
708 THE INFIDEL AND ETERNITY By Edgar J. Wrigley
709 WORDS ABOUT SEEKING THE LOST By Thomas J. Slater, D.D.
710 THE INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES
SCIENTIFICALLY DEMONSTRATED By Ivan Panin.
711 THINGS THAT ACCOMPANY SALVATION By
Arlen L. Chitwood.
712 HABAKKUK: A STUDY OF THE PROPHET By
Robert Vaughman.
713 THE MYSTERY OF
THE
714 THE LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD By
A. T.Schofield, M.D., M.R.S.C.
715 GLORIOUS GRACE By R. L. Lacey.
716 SUGGESTIVE STUDIES IN ISAIAH By
H. A. Woolley.
717
SOTEROLOGY AND THE FUTURE SALVATION
OF THE SOUL
By Arlen L. Chitwood. [PART ONE]
718 A BIBLE
STUDY COURSE OF THE SECOND COMING
OF CHRIST By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D.
719 THE UNIVERSAL AND
OF GOD By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY ONE]
720 THE MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM IN OLD TESTAMENT
HISTORY By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY TWO]
721 THE MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM IN OLD TESTAMENT
HOSTORY By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY THREE]
722 THE END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT MEDIATORIAL
KINGDOM By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY FOUR]
723 THE KING AND THE KINGDOM IN OLD TESTAMENT
PROPHECY By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY FIVE]
724 THE CROWN RIGHTS OF JESUS
By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY
SIX]
725 THE OFFER AND REJECTION OF
THE KINGDOM By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY SEVEN]
726 THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY
EIGHT]
727 THE MILLENNIAL
By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY
NINE]
728 THE PERFECT AND
By Alfred T. Eade, S.T.D. [STUDY
TEN]
729 THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL By
Arlen L. Chitwood. [PART TWO]
730 THE POSITION OF RESPONSIBILITY
OF THE CHURCH By Watchman
Nee.
731 THE ELEVENTH HOUR By D. M.
Panton, B.A.
732 MESSIANIC JEWS By Ernest
Gordon.
733 SPIRITUALISM By Dr. Oswald
Smith.
734 CLEAVAGE BETWEEN BELIEVERS By
W. F. Roadhouse.
735 THE LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD By
A. T. Schofield, M.D., M.R.S.C.
736 THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL By
Arlen L. Chitwood. [PART THREE]
737 THE PAROUSIA OF CHRIST By D.
M. Panton, B.A.
738 THE JEW AND THE CHURCH AS SIGNS By
W. P. Hicks, B.D.
739 THYATIRA AND
740 PEARLS By Dr. Trevor Davies.
741 A PASSION FOR [THE SALVATION OF] SOULS By Rev. W. Lea.
742
THE TRAGEDY THAT IS COMING By Mollie
Norton.
743 THE SUN IN PROPHECY By E. J. Hytche.
744 AN URGENT DANGER By D. M. Panton,
B.A.
745 THE CHURCH IN THE HOUSE By D.
M. Panton, B.A.
746 THE REAPING OF THE HARVEST
747 THE JUDGMENT OF BELIEVERS By
G. H. Pember, M.A.
748 A FORECAST OF COMING JUDGMENT
749 THE RETURN OF ELIJAH By
Michael P. Baxter.
750 THE RAPTURE OF ELIJAH By D.
M. Panton, B.A.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
701
TWO KINDS OF
GROWTH
By ARLEN L.
CHITWOOD
For the earth which drinketh
in the rain that cometh oft upon it, and bringeth forth
herbs meet for them by whom it
is dressed, receiveth blessings from God:
But that which beareth thorns
and briers is rejected, and is nigh
unto cursing; whose end is to be burned (Heb. 6: 7, 8).
The subject matter, contextually, must centre around
that which has preceded. The writer uses an illustration drawn from nature
which corresponds to that which he has been discussing. It is an illustration
concerning two kinds of
growth, resulting in two types of fruit.
This
illustration would refer back to the immediate context, which deals with
maturity in the faith. It deals with Christian growth or non-growth and a
corresponding fruit-bearing in relation to each. The two types of fruit
presented though are quite different, with one type being looked upon as barrenness in
other passages of Scripture (cf. Mark 11: 13; James 2: 20 [ref. ASV; some mss. have the word arge, “barren,”
rather than nekros, “dead,” in this verse. Regardless though, “dead” or “barren,” in
the sense spoken of here, would be the same]).
The
unsaved are not in view in Heb. 6: 7, 8; nor is one’s eternal
destiny in view. The passage deals strictly with those who are
already saved, those in a position to bring forth fruit.
Drawing
from the type in the context, the passage deals with things beyond Exodus,
chapter twelve - with man at a point beyond the death of the firstborn. It deals with man in a position to bring forth fruit relative to
the hope of his calling.
Preceding
events surrounding the death of the firstborn, there is no such thing as man
being placed in a position of this nature. Prior to the point of salvation, a
person is connected only with the earth. He is connected with Adam, who was
made from “the
dust of the ground” (Gen. 2: 7). And at the time of the fall, the dust of the
ground came under a curse: “...cursed is the ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee...” (Gen. 3: 17b, 18a).
Fallen man is “dead in trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2: 1). And
insofar as works or fruit-bearing are concerned, he can only do two things: (1) He can only produce works or bring
forth fruit in association with the earth, with which he finds himself
connected (which is under a curse), and (2)
he can only be active after this fashion within the sphere of the one life he
possesses (“natural,” i.e., “soulical” [cf. 1 Cor. 2: 14ff]).
He
could never, in an eternity of time, rise above his connection
with the earth; nor, in the same eternity of time, could he remove himself from
the “natural.” Thus, he, in and of himself, could never bring
forth anything acceptable to God. All which he, in his fallen state, might
consider as “righteous” would only be looked upon by God after one fashion - “as filthy rags” (Isa.
6: 4-6). …
Man
has a spiritual problem, which had
its origin in the fall. Man, at that time, found himself separated from God;
and, apart from Divine intervention, resulting in redemption, that’s where he
would not only continue to remain today but for all eternity as well.
Unredeemed man’s association with the “natural” leaves him alienated
from God; and his association with the “earth” leaves
him destined for destruction.
This
is the reason man MUST be born from
above, which is a spiritual birth. There is no
alternative. If he
would escape the state in which he presently finds himself, he must escape
it through God’s provided means.
Unredeemed man has no capacity whatsoever to act either relative
to or within the “spiritual realm” Insofar as
spiritual matters are concerned, unredeemed man has no more ability to act than
any person in any graveyard has the ability to act physically. Both are dead - one
spiritually, the other physically. And, apart from Divine intervention, neither
could ever make even the most minute move conceivable - one in the spiritual
realm, the other in the physical realm.
Unredeemed man, to escape his present state, thus must be made
alive spiritually (John 3: 6). He must
be brought from his dead, alienated state to a living, non-alienated state.
That is, he must be removed from his present state and be placed in an entirely
different state. He must pass “from death unto life” (John 5: 24).
That’s
why Jesus told Nicodemus, “Ye must be born again [lit., ‘born
from above’]” (John 3: 7).
This is the great imperative. A man can make no move toward the
Redeemed man thus finds himself in a position where he can
go in either of two directions. He can either fix his attention on the land out
ahead, or he can turn and fix his
attention on the land from which he was called.
Insofar as his
eternal destiny is concerned, it could never make one iota of difference
which direction he takes. But, in so far as the hope of
his calling - the purpose for his salvation - is concerned, it would make
every difference.
Hebrews 6: 7, 8 presents [redeemed] man with a
dual capacity in this realm. That
is, he possesses the capacity to go
in either direction. Thus, not
only contextually, but textually as well, it is evident that the passage is
dealing only with those who have passed “from death unto life.”
Those remaining “dead in trespasses and sins” do not possess this dual capacity and cannot be in view
at all…
Thus,
the “natural man” cannot worship God “in spirit and in truth”; nor can he exercise “faith” apart from which it is impossible to please God (Heb. 11: 6). Only
the person having experienced the spiritual birth from above is in a position to do either.
But
such a person may or may not conduct his affairs in the realm of the
spiritual, though Scripture, time after time, exhorts him to so do. These things which characterise the life, may or may not be in line with those things which
characterise God, though they
should be. He still
possesses the old [sinful] nature (the spiritual man connected with God,
another land,* etc.). And a [regenerate] Christian is fully
capable of following either nature, going in either direction.
[* See Tract 704 “Caleb and Joshua”]
And
for this reason Scripture is filled with spiritual lessons, exhortations, and warnings
concerning the overall matter surrounding the
Christians’ calling. And herein, as
well, lies the reason for the necessity
of proper spiritual growth unto maturity,
for redeemed man [and redeemed woman] lives within the sphere of which ever
nature is cultivated, nurtured, and fed.
* *
* * *
* *
702
THE BLIND
WATCHERS AT THE CROSS
By ALEXANDER
MACLAREN,
‘And sitting down they watched Him there.’ - MATTHEW 27:
36.
Our thoughts are,
rightly, so absorbed by the central Figure in this great chapter that we pass
by almost unnoticed the groups round the cross. And yet there are large lessons
to be learned from each of them. These rude soldiers, four in number, as we
infer from John’s Gospel, had no doubt joined with their comrades in the coarse
mockery which preceded the sad procession to Calvary; and then they had to do
the rough work of the executioners, fastening the sufferers to the rude wooden
crosses, lifting these, with their burden, fixing them into the ground, then
parting the raiment. And when all that
is done they sit stolidly down to take their ease at the foot of the cross, and
idly to wait, with eyes that look and see nothing, until the sufferers die. A
strange picture; and a strange thing to think of, how they were so close to the great event in the world’s history, and
had to stare at it for three or four hours, and never saw anything [of
spiritual importance]!
The
lessons that the incident teaches us may be very simply gathered together.
I. First we infer from this the old truth of how ignorant men are of the real meaning and outcome of what they do.
These
four Roman soldiers were foreigners; I suppose that they could not speak a word
to a man in that crowd. They had no means of communication with them. They had
had plenty of practice in crucifying Jews. It was part of their ordinary work
in these troublesome times, and this was just one more. Think of what a corporal’s
guard of rough English soldiers, out in
But in part it is so with us all, though in less
extreme fashion. None of us know the real meaning, and none of us know the
possible issues and outcome of a great deal of our lives. We are like people
sowing seed in the dark; it is put into our hands and we sow. We do the deed;
this end of it is in our power, but where it runs out to, and what will come of
it, lie far beyond our ken. We are compassed about, wherever we go, by this
atmosphere of mystery, and enclosed within a great ring of blackness.
And so the simple lesson to be drawn from that clear
fact, about all our conduct, is this - let results alone. Never mind about what you cannot get hold of; you cannot see to the
other end, and you have nothing to do with it. You can see this end; make that right.
Be sure that the motive is
right, and then into whatever
unlooked-for consequences your act may run out at the further end, you will be
right. Never mind what kind of harvest
is coming out of your deeds, you cannot forecast it. ‘Thou soweth not
that body that shall be, but bare grain. ... God giveth it a body as it pleaseth Him.’ Let alone that profitless investigation,
the attempt to fashion and understand either the significance or the issues of
your conduct, and stick fast by this - look
after your motive for doing it, and your temper in doing it; and then be quite sure, ‘Thou shalt find it after
many days,’ and the fruit
will be ‘unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus
Christ.’
II. Take another very simple and equally plain lesson
from this incident, viz., the limitation of responsibility
by knowledge.
These men, as I said, were ignorant of what they were
doing, and, therefore, they were guiltless. Christ Himself said so: ‘They know not what they do.’ But it is marvellous to observe that whilst the
people who stood round the cross, and were associated in the act that led Jesus
there, had all degrees of responsibility, the least guilty of the whole were
the men who did the actual work of nailing Him to the cross, and lifting it
with Him upon it. These soldiers were not half as much to blame as were many of
the men that stood by; and just in the
measure in which the knowledge or the possibility of knowledge increased, just
in that measure did the responsibility increase. The high priest was a
great deal more to blame than the Roman soldiers. The rude tool that nailed
Christ to the cross, the hammer that was held in the hand of the legionary, was
almost as much to blame as the hand that wielded it. For the hand that wielded
it had very little more knowledge than it had.
In
so far as it was possible that these men might have known something of what
they were doing, in so far were they to blame; but remember what a very, very
little light could possibly have shone upon these souls. If there is no light
there cannot be any shadow; and if these men were, as certainly they were, all
but absolutely ignorant, and never could have been anything else, of what they
were doing, then they were all but absolutely guiltless. And so you come to
this, which is only a paradox to superficial thinkers, that the men that did the greatest crime in the whole history of the world,
did it with all but clean hands; and the people that were to be condemned were
those who delivered ‘the Just One’
into the hands of more lawless, and therefore less responsible, men.
So
here is the general principle, that as
knowledge and light rise and fall, so responsibility rises and falls along with
them. And therefore let us be thankful that we have not to judge one
another, but that we have all to stand before that merciful and
loving tribunal of the God who is a God of knowledge, and by whom action’s are weighed, as the
Old Book has it - not counted, but weighed. And let us be thankful, too, that we may extend our
charity to all round us, and refrain from thinking of any man or woman that we
can pronounce upon their
criminality, because we do not know the light in which they walk.
III. And now the last lesson, and the one that I most desire to lay upon
your hearts, is this, how possible it is
to look at Christ on the
cross, and see nothing.
For
half a day there they sat, and it was but a dying Jew that they saw, one of
three. A touch of pity came into their hearts once or twice, alternating to
mockery, which was not savage because it was simply brutal; but when it was all
over, and they had pierced His side, and gone away back to their barracks, they
had not the least notion that they, with their dim, purblind eyes, had been
looking at the most stupendous miracle in the whole world’s history, had been
gazing at the thing into which angels desired to look; and had seen that to which
the hearts and the gratitude of unconverted millions would turn for all
eternity. They laid their heads down on their pillows that night and did not
know what had passed before their eyes, and they shut the eyes that had served
them so ill, and went to sleep, unconscious that they had seen
the pivot on which the whole history of humanity had turned; and been the
unmoved witnesses of ‘God manifest in the flesh,’ dying on the cross for the whole world, and for
them. What should they have seen if
they had seen the reality? They
should have seen not a dying rebel but a dying Christ - [the
Ruler and Sustainer of this universe (Isa. 9: 6, 7; 40: 10ff. R.V.]; they
should have looked with emotion, they should have looked with faith, they
should have looked with thankfulness.
Any
one who looks at that cross, and sees nothing but a pure and perfect man dying
upon it, is very nearly as blind as the Roman legionaries. Any one to whom it
is only an example of perfect innocence and patient suffering has only seen an
inch into the Infinite; and the depths of it are as much concealed from him as
they were from them. Any one who looks with an unmoved heart, without one
thrill of gratitude, is nearly as blind as the rough soldiers. He that looks
and does not say -
‘My faith would lay her hand
On that dear head of Thine;
While like a penitent I stand
And there confess my sin,’
has
not learned more of the meaning of the Cross than they did. And any one who looks
to it, and then turns away and forgets, or who looks at it and fails to
recognise in it the law of his own life and pattern for his own conduct, has
yet to see more deeply into it before he sees even such portion of its meaning
as here we can apprehend.
Oh!
dear friends, we all of us, as the apostle says in one of his letters, have had
this Christ ‘manifestly set forth before us as if
painted upon a placard upon a wall’ (for that is the meaning of the
picturesque words that he employs). And if we look with calm, unmoved hearts;
if we look without personal appropriation of that Cross and dying love to
ourselves, and if we look without our hearts going out in thankfulness and
laying themselves at His feet in a calm rapture of life-long devotion, then we
need not wonder that four ignorant heathen men sat and looked at Him for four
long hours and saw nothing, for we are as blind as ever they were.
You
say, ‘We see.’ Do you see? Do you look? Does the look touch your
hearts? Have you fathomed the meaning of the fact? Is it to you the sacrifice of the living Christ for your salvation? Is it to you the death on which all your
hopes rest? You say that you see. Do you see that in it? Do you see your only ground of confidence
and peace? And do you so see that, like a man who has looked at the sun for
a moment or two, when you turn away your head you carry the image of what you
beheld still stamped on your eyeball, and have it both as a memory and a
present impression? So is the cross photographed on your heart; and is it true
about us that every day, and all days, we behold our Saviour, and beholding Him are being changed into
His likeness? Is it true about us that we thus bear about with us in the
body ‘the dying
of the Lord Jesus’? If we look to Him with faith and love, and make His Cross our own, and
keep it ever in our memory, ever before us as an inspiration and a hope and a
joy and a pattern, then we see. If not, ‘for judgment am I come
into the world, that they which see not may see, and that they which
see might be made blind.’ For
what men are so blind to the infinite pathos and tenderness, power, mystery,
and miracle of the Cross, as the men and women who all their lives long have heard a Gospel which has been held up
before their lack-lustre eyes, and have looked at it so long that they cannot
see it any more?
Let us pray that our eyes may be purged,
that we may see, and seeing may copy, that dying love of the
ever-loving Lord.
*
* * *
* * *
703
DIVISION IN THE EYES OF GOD AND MAN
By DEREK ROUS*
[* Published
in November 2019]
-------
When the speaker of the House of Commons in
But
the idea of “Division” reflects the fact that
when a nation such as ours tries to make a decision over a matter of right or
wrong, there are a variety of opinions that emerge. But can there be such a
thing as “an opinion” of whether something is right or wrong? Jesus spoke a
parable in Matthew
12: 22-30
and simply said “Every
Kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation, and every city or house divided against itself will not stand.” It seems that over generations.
According
to God’s will and pleasure in Joshua 13 and onwards, the
VIOLENCE FILLS THE EARTH
So
today,
WILL GOD STAND ASIDE?
The
problem particularly for the Church is this - “Do we believe that what God has done in the
past, could possibly happen today?” I believe that if God is true to His own Word, then judgment is coming. Is this the end of
the world? No, it is not - but it does indicate that God cares enough about His world not to allow it to destroy itself and
therefore will intervene. And the greatest intervention to
come is none other than the Second Coming of God’s only Son, Jesus the Messiah
to rule and reign on earth. That is why we pray, “Thy Kingdom Come, Thy will be done
- ON EARTH as it is in heaven:” Matthew 6: 10. Will we live to see it? I believe we will be
part of it, when we come with Him in the clouds of heaven to rule and reign
with Him. Satan will be bound for a thousand years as Yeshua begins to reign
without opposition from the city of the great king -
THE
So,
when the whole world seems filled with confusion and violence, the two most
important things to know are “Lord, how should we behave and how should we pray.”
Peter first encourages those he writes to
in 2 Peter 3:
11-13:
“Therefore since
these things will be dissolved, what
manner of persons ought we to be in holy conduct and godliness…” (Please read on.) Then Paul speaks to the Philippian
believers in Philippians
4: 6 “Be anxious for
nothing, but in everything by
prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to
God.” Its not one or other
- its both together.
*
* * *
* * *
704
RUN TO WIN
“Do you not know,”
- [says the Apostle Paul, ‘to the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called
to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of
the Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and ours’(1
Cor. 1: 1, 2.)] - “that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the
prize? Run in such a way as to
get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.
They do it to get a crown of laurel that will not last;
but we do it to get a crown that will last
forever. Therefore I do not run like a man
running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man
shadow boxing. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have
preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified
for the prize” (1 Cor. 9: 24-27). “Therefore, since we are
surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let
us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles,
and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for
us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the Pioneer and Perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat
down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider
Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart,” says the Writer
of Hebrews when
addressing “holy brothers, who share in
the heavenly calling:” Hebrews 12: 1-3;
3: 1.
It should be seen at a glance, that the above quoted
Scriptures are addressed to regenerate believers; and that the
texts have nothing whatsoever to do with what they presently have - “the free gift of God” (Rom. 6: 23,
R.V.)!
“Christians
are in a race, and the highest of all possible prizes is extended as an encouragement
for them to run the race after the manner which will result in victory. In Heb. 12: 1, 2, the
Spirit of God has provided Christians with instructions concerning how this
race is to be run, and any Christian running the race after the revealed
fashion can be assured that he will finish the contest in a satisfactory
manner. On the other hand though, any Christian not following these provided
instructions can, under no circumstances, expect victory in the contest (1 Cor 4: 2; Rev. 2: 10; 3: 21).” (A. Chitwood.)
If
ever there was a group of individuals who should be preparing themselves for
that which lies ahead, it is Christians. God is presently selecting a bride for His Son, who will rule the earth during the coming
“age” as co-regent with Him. Positions among those who will
form the bride are to be earned, not entered into strictly on the
basis of one’s eternal salvation. And even among those who are ‘considered worth’ to enter into these
positions, there will be no equality.
Rather, there will be numerous gradations of positions held by those occupying
the throne as “co-heirs” with Christ during that
coming millennial day.
Rev. 19: 7, 8; Luke 20: 35;
Christians
will receive positions in Christ’s Kingdom exactly
commensurate with their performance in the race. That is to say, positions
with Christ in the coming age will be assigned to household servants in perfect keeping with their faithfulness
to delegated responsibility during the present time, for faithfulness after
this fashion is how Christians run the race.
The
one thing which consumed the Apostle Paul, governing his every move following
the point of his initial salvation, was being able to successfully compete the
race in which he had (by God’s grace) entered. Paul knew that he had been saved
and spent no time rethinking circumstances surrounding his initial salvation
experience to make sure he was eternally saved; nor did he live after a certain
fashion out of fear that he could possibly one day lose this salvation -
something which Paul knew to be an impossibility (Rom.
8: 35-39). Rather, Paul set his eyes on the goal out
ahead, a goal which his conversion had made possible (Phil.
3: 7-14).
The
race in which Christians presently find themselves is, in the light of Hebrews 11: 1ff
and other related Scriptures, a race of the faith (cf. 2
Tim. 4: 7).
The “saving of
the soul” is in view (Heb. 10: 39), which is what Peter in his first epistle
referred to as a future salvation “the end of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet.
1: 5, 9, R.V.). And the saving or losing of one’s ‘soul’ is closely
connected to “the
first
resurrection” (Rev. 20: 4; cf. Rev.
6: 9-11). The saving or
losing of one’s soul has to do with occupying or being denied a position with
Christ during the promised Millennium.
(cf. Matt. 16: 24-17: 5; 25: 14-30; Luke 19: 12-27.)
Thus
the race in which Christians are presently engaged is being run with a messianic kingdom in view; and it is being run, more
specifically, with a view to proffered positions on the throne with God’s Son
in that
kingdom. This is what is at stake. And
there can be no higher prize than that of one day being elevated from a servant
in the Lord’s house on this earth to a co-regent with Christ as rulers with Him
in His kingdom.
Psa. 2: 8; 72. & 110: 1-3. cf. Luke 1:
32; Rev. 3: 21; 11: 15, R.V.
How
many Christians know these things? How many, for that matter, believe them or
are even interested? Christians talk about being saved, and immediately after
their death, going into heaven; though most don’t have the slightest idea of what will happen at the time of their death.
Being
saved with a corresponding assurance of heaven is often looked upon as an end
in itself. However, if such is the case, where does the race in which we are
presently engaged fit in the Christian life? It doesn’t, for one’s eternal
salvation and assurance of heaven are based entirely on Christ’s finished work,
completely apart from the race.
One
is saved with the race in view, and the race is for a
revealed purpose. The teaching so prevalent today which views salvation
only in the light of eternal verities - i.e., one’s eternal destiny is either
Heaven or Hell, depending on the person’s saved or unsaved status, with that
being the end of the matter - is a
theology which completely ignores and obscures the “message about the kingdom” (Matt. 13: 18, N.I.V.).
Teachings concerning the importance of
salvation have not been balanced with teachings concerning the purpose of salvation.
If
ever there was a group of individuals on the earth with something to live for
or something to die for, it is Christians. They are in possession of all
possible callings. But in spite of this, the world has never seen a group like
those comprising Christendom today - a group of individuals who could profess so much but really
profess so little.
The
message is there, but Where are the
Christians who know and understand these things? The race is presently
being run, but Where are the serious
contenders? The offer to ascend the throne with Christ has been extended,
but Where are those who have fixed their
eyes on this goal?
“Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so
easily entangles, and let us run” - NOT for the “free
Gift” of “eternal life”, (Rom. 6: 23, R.V.), but for the “Prize”
and resurrection life during “the age to come”
(Luke 20: 35;
Phil. 3: 11; Heb. 6: 5, R.V.)
with a share in Messiah’s coming inheritance. (Psa. 2: 8.)
See also 2 Tim. 2: 5, 12, 28; 1 Thess. 2: 11, 12; 2 Thess. 1: 4, 5; Rev. 3: 21;
Luke 22: 28, 29;
Heb. 4: 11; Eph. 5: 3-7; Gal. 5: 16-21.
*
* * *
* *
*
705
LOSSES AND GAINS
By DEREK ROUS
“They shall not hurt
nor destroy in all My Holy mountain, For the
earth
shall be filled with the knowledge of the Lord as the waters cover
the sea.”
-------
The Israel Messianic Body has suffered some significant
losses in recent weeks. Three Messianic leaders, Eliahu Ben Haim of Intercessors
for
To
add to this, in this past week, a young wife and mother, Sophie Rosteski and her two-month old
son, Itai
were killed in a car accident near
Our
first thoughts are of sadness and loss - particularly for the families. But
Paul reminds us that if we have hope for this life only, “We are of all men - most miserable.” (1
Corinthians 15: 19) if we do not have hope that God has better things ahead for us all
after death, then we can easily fall into Satan’s trap of being pre-occupied
with this life alone. Please pray for him and the surviving
daughter.
WHAT IS LIFE?
Life
is more than what we see, touch and taste. Proverbs 29: 19
says, “Where
there is no vision, the people perish.” it could read, “Where the people have no hope or understanding of who they are,
what life is for and where they are going; then there is no point to Law and
government and so people do whatever comes into their mind to do.” They
lose all sense of restraint; for nothing is right and nothing is wrong. All is
in transition - in this godless, lawless and demonic world.
BUT THAT’S THE LIE OF SATAN.
Quite
clearly we are in a battle and it is a battle to the end. But it’s not just a
battle with ourselves. The battle ground is every place where we are, but its overseen
and engineered by the Devil and all his minions. Here I must refer and go to a
sermon series by David Pawson on the topic “Conflict
of Supernatural Powers.” It’s
a very healthy reminder that as Paul says: “We must not be ignorant of his devices” (2 Corinthians 1: 8;
2: 11)
And yet so often we are.
WE ARE IN A STATE OF
How
many us realise that we are fighting as soldiers the greatest battle of
history? There are two problems about this. A - We do not realise it and B
- Both good and bad angels currently have access to God in the heavenlies. So,
it is easy to think that our warfare against flesh and blood - (people) when it is not. Our real
enemies are “principalities
and powers in the heavenly places” which are hard to recognise and even harder to deal with, without the
necessary equipment, (Ephesians 6: 10-18)
WE NEED TO KNOW WHICH BATTLES TO FIGHT
First,
we need to realise that the earth has been a battle ground ever since the
creation of man. Second, we need to be careful that our natural sympathies for the people who suffer, does not end up opposing God’s overall
purposes when He is waging war. The earth is in a state of perpetual
conflict because no-one has completely rid the world of Satan - at least, not
get!
Jesus
defeated him on the cross but the judgment of Satan is yet to take place. The real danger is being distracted by wars against poverty, climate
change and other social evils which if they are not related to personal,
spiritual deliverance, can easily sap our energies. “We are in the Devils territory” says David Pawson. “This
world is his kingdom and the song ‘He’s
got the whole world in His hand’ is not
quite right!” That’s
why the Lord taught the disciples a prayer that says, “And deliver us from
the evil one” and not the
evil world. (Matthew
6: 13.)
THE PURPOSE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.
The
whole Bible - from beginning to end is a record of God’s acts of deliverance
from the power of the devil. The two aspects of that deliverance are firstly territorial as portrayed in the O.T.
and secondly personal.
Unless
you have lived under a demonic ruler, its hard to understand what deliverance
means. Why was it that
Jesus
came to destroy the works of the evil one - and He did just that. One day soon,
He will return to finish the job. Only then, will there be no more crying or
suffering for He will rule forevermore.
*
* * *
* * *
706
WEALTH IN
THE LAST DAYS
By D. M.
PANTON
WORLD-WEALTH like world-power is
in itself a colourless instrument working for the highest or the basest ends
according to the spirit of those who handle it: wealth is a gift of God to
do the will of God, or to show the love of God; to build up the best, or to
succour the needy and the impoverished. The American millionaire, Mr. Andrew Carnegie, says:- “Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is
bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.” He
himself gave away £57,000,000 in
The Last
Days
The
Apostle James unveils the terrible judgments
that will fall on misused wealth in the closing days. “Go to now, ye rich, weep and howl for
the miseries that are coming upon you. Ye have
laid up your treasure IN THE LAST DAYS” (Jas. 5: 1, 3): that is, you are amassing wealth at the very moment
that the fabric of the world is tottering. It has been stated on good authority
that there are seventeen men alive who could pay the debts of the world. A
single country will illustrate it. Some years ago the Treasury Department of
the American Government stated that 504 Americans have an annual income of
£257,027,066; and how sharply this brings out that the closing age may be seen
from the fact (of which Macaulay reminds us) that the wealthiest monarch in the
world at the end of the eighteenth century was worth £3,000,000, whereas each
of these modern plutocrats has an income of more than £1,000,000 every year.
According to The Economist in 1910, in
Hoarding
Now
the first charge made against wealth hoarded and not circulated is
actual decay in its value. Wealth, in the deep design of God, is made for a
whole world’s whole need: gold-rust defeats the very purpose of God in giving
the gold, and destroys the currency of the world as the moth consumes garments
meant for wear. “Your
riches are corrupted, and your garments are
moth-eaten. Your gold and your silver are rusted; and their rust shall be for a testimony against you, and shall eat your flesh as fire.” In The Times (Nov. 12, 1930): it was pointed out that something like £400,000,000 of
gold or notes is being hoarded, especially in France and America; and “one of the most serious dangers,” it says, “that threaten the world’s economic structure, is this
enormous hoarding of gold or notes.”
Fraud
The second charge is fraud. “Behold, the hire of the labourers who mowed your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth out; and the cries of
them that reaped have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth.” “‘Sabaoth’ represents all the manifestations of the majesty and
righteousness of God” (F. T.
Barrett). Instead of abounding investments in every good word and work,
lavish gifts to the perishing poor, the very debts of the wealthy, due to their
labourers, are unpaid. As one writer puts it:- “The
fraud may take many shapes: unjust deductions from wages; delay in paying them;
as the price of labour may be unjustly beaten down; advantage may be taken of
the frightful necessities of the poor; or again, enormous profits made by
gigantic corners' in food stuffs.”
Luxury
The third charge is luxury. “Ye have lived delicately on
the earth; ye have nourished” - satiated, glutted - “your hearts in a day of slaughter” - in a day of World Wars. While the United States
Government was burdened by 500,000 unemployed, the ‘beauty
parlours’ in
Persecution
The last charge brought against the wealthy
in the last days is persecution. “Ye have killed, ye have condemned the righteous one; he doth not resist you.” The golden non-resistance of the righteous saint is not stated of the
Church, nor of the people of God as a whole, but of one whose life and
character can be summed up as ‘righteous’: by
lawyer’s writ, or soldier’s sword, or trade union’s dismissal, or by hired
gangster he is ‘condemned’.
Capitalism
So then we
are face to face with an amazing forecast of modern Capitalism, characterized
and imperilled. For a fearful crash
is foreseen. “Weep
and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you: the rust [of your gold and
silver] shall eat your flesh as fire: ye have nourished your hearts in a day of slaughter” - your own slaughter; in face of the fact that
one-sixth of the world’s population is living on poor-relief. Communism was
born in Karl Marx’s Capital: it is the raging heart of the masses hurling
themselves on iniquitous wealth: it has murdered Capitalists in hundreds of
thousands: it is an erupting volcano under the whole of modern finance. The
world has seen one fearful example of the ‘miseries’
under which a whole community has gone down.
The Advent
But
the dawn lies immediately beyond. “Be patient therefore, brethren,
until the coming of the Lord.” The Apostles knew no Advent whatever but the personal
return of the King. “Not merely coming, but actual personal presence. The reign of righteousness and truth in the
‘Age to Come’ will not consist
in a spiritual influence shed abroad by an unseen power as now, but in the
visible glory of the King of kings, dispensing His law and scattering His
blessings over a regenerate and rejoicing world” (F. T. Barrett). He (or
she) who receives Christ as Saviour and Lord inherits a mass of wealth which is
utterly incomprehensible: he (or she) is actually known as ‘an heir of God’ (Rom. 8: 17); he will
therefore be heir to “a new heavens and a new earth,” a heritage rich beyond all imagination.
*
* * *
* * *
707
THE SERMON
ON THE MOUNT
By ROBERT
GOVETT, M.A.
(From Matt. 7: 24)
24.
Every one, therefore, that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them,
I will liken him* to a prudent man, who built his house upon the rock. **
*
Tregelles reads, “Shall be likened.” ** The
article.
25.
And the rain descended,
and the rivers came, and the winds blew, and fell upon that house;
and it fell not, for it had been founded* upon the rock.
*
Pluperfect tense.
26.
And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not,
shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the
sand.
27.
And the rain descended, and
the rivers came, and the winds blew,
and beat upon that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.
IN
ancient days, navigation was quite in its infancy. The ship kept in sight of
land. It durst not venture into the open sea, for fear of the loss of its
reckoning. How should the sailor know where he was, if there were no headlands
which he recognised? How could he discover his position at sea, if neither sun,
nor moon, nor stars appeared?
But
now suppose, that at Tarshish there appears a captain, who declares that he has
sailed all round the earth. His crew confirm his testimony. The story excites
great interest. He calls an assembly of captains and sailors, in order to make
known to them his secret. ‘My success,’ he
says, ‘is due to this little instrument, which I call a
compass. Within this box a steel needle which always points to the north, is
freely suspended. It moves on gimbals, so that the rolling of the vessel does
not affect it. Now this made me independent of sun, moon, or stars. Even when
the sky has been overcast for weeks together, I have felt quite easy, certain
of my place at sea, and have carried my ship all round the earth. By sailing
constantly westward from this port, I have returned to it again. Here is the
chart of my voyage. In its course, I have discovered a vast continent, which
lies thousands of miles away from this city. Here are some of the strange
products of that land, never before visited by a European.’
They
test his compasses. They handle the specimens. They pore over the chart.
Astonishment and admiration are in every heart, and on every face. They rise to
applaud. ‘Sir, you are the greatest discoverer that
has ever appeared: you are a benefactor of the human race: your name shall live
with glory among all seamen to the end of time!’ And they leave the
meeting, to go and spread abroad the fame of this marvellous invention, this
wondrous discoverer.
But
two captains who said little or nothing amidst the applause of their comrades,
step up to this prince of seamen. ‘Will you allow us,
sir, to buy one of these valuable instruments? For we are going to put to sea
in a week.’ ‘Buy! No! But you are welcome to
have them as a gift. There is one for you! And there is another for you!’
Now,
who honoured the discoverer most? Who were the wisest? Those who admired and
praised? or those who reduced the
discovery to practice?
Men
must give but one answer. This parable then confirms the Saviour’s sentiment in
the verses just read. He does not depreciate admiration of the truth, and
profession of it. But He requires
practice to be added to it.
In
the subject before us, Jesus wishes us to perceive, how practice secures
both the stability of our profession, and our entrance into
the millennial kingdom.
All
believers then are closely interested in the words before us. For all are
builders: and our houses are of the one description or of the other.
It
is indeed commonly assumed, that the parable describes persons as far apart as
are the hypocrite and the true believer. ‘Jesus,’
it is said, ‘is the rock on which the one builds: his
own works or professions are the sand on which the other rests his house. Death
and judgment, or the trials of life, are the testing winds and waters of the
parable.’
To
this I cannot agree. It appears to me clear, that both the builders
are [regenerate] believers.
1. Jesus makes but ONE POINT of difference between the two. Both hear His words. And, by “hearing,” Jesus seems to mean believing. “But I say unto you which
hear, Love your enemies”
(Luke 6: 27).
Here disciples are intended. Again, the contrast between believer and
unbeliever is made to consist in hearing or not. “He that is of God, heareth God’s words: ye therefore hear them not, because ye are not of God” (John 8: 47). “My sheep hear my voice” (10: 27). The
difference consists in doing or in not doing them. Now is it not perfectly possible for a [regenerate] believer to admire, and not to perform, our Lord’s
precepts? It is necessary to the force of the lesson taught, that between the
two parties there should be but ONE point of difference. For the Saviour
would divert us from conduct prejudicial to our interests, by a perception of
the sad consequences. Those consequences then should be due to the one error
pointed out. It is evident therefore, that the parable embodies the difference
which Jesus proclaims at first. This difference of the foundation then is the
difference between the doing and not doing. The rock-built foundation,
therefore, is that of the doer of the truth. The sandy foundation is that of profession alone.
2. Jesus distinguishes the two builders, not by making the one “good” and the other “evil,” but
solely, by calling the one “prudent,” or “wise,” the other “foolish.” Now [regenerate] believers may
be “foolish.” All [regenerate] believers
are foolish in comparison with the children of this world (Luke 16: 8).
The parable of the wise and foolish virgins is an instance corroborative of
this to all who are satisfied by the arguments adduced in a tract entitled, - “All believers interested in the Parable of the Ten Virgins,”
- that the ten virgins are all converted.
*
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* * *
708
THE INFIDEL
AND ETERNITY
By EDGAR J.
WRIGLEY
“I WOULD gladly give one hundred and fifty
thousand dollars,” said Charteres, “to have it proved there is no hell.”
“Until this moment,” said Sir Walter Scott, “I thought there was
neither a God or a hell. Now I know and feel that there are
both, and I am doomed to perdition by the just judgment of the Almighty.”
“I am suffering the pangs of the damned!” exclaimed Tallyrand, the
French statesman.
“I am taking a fearful leap into the dark!” said
“I’m lost! Lost! Lost!” cried Infidel Adams when dying. “I’m damned!
Damned! Damned forever!” His agony was so great that he tore his hair
from his head as he passed away.
“I am damned to all eternity!” exclaimed Edwards.
“O Christ!” cried Voltaire.
“O Lord Jesus! I must die - abandoned by God and of
men.” For his condition had become so frightful that his infidel
associates were afraid to approach his bedside. After he passed away, his nurse
said repeatedly, “For all the wealth of
“Stay with me,” pleaded Paine. “Stay with me, for God’s sake! I
cannot bear to be left alone!”
“I would rather lie on that stove fire,” said M. F. Rich, “and
broil for one million years than to go into eternity with the eternal horrors
that hang over my soul! I have given my immortality for gold; and its weight
sinks me into an endless hopeless hell!”
“The devils are come! The devils are come! Hell and damnation!”
cried Freedom as he passed away.
The
anguish of Volney,
the atheist, concerning the future was something awful to behold. Nothing could
calm his fears. He kept crying out, “My God! My God!
My God!” until he fell back dead.
“Give me more laudanum” pleaded Mirabeau, “That I may not think of eternity!”
“I can see the old devil in the bedroom!” exclaimed A. T. Adams as he passed away.
“Devils are in the room,” cried Brown, “Ready to drag my soul down to
hell! It’s no use looking to Jesus now; it’s too late!”
When
Kay was dying he cried, “Hell! Hell!
Hell!” with a terror which no pen can describe. It was more than his family
could endure and they fled from the house until everything was quiet.
“O Thou blasphemed, yet indulgent Lord!” prayed the
dying
“What argument is there now to assist me against matters of
fact?” asked Sir Francis Newport.
“Do I assert there is no hell while I feel one in my
own bosom? That there is a God I know, because I continually feel the effect of
His wrath. That there is a hell, I am equally certain, having received an
earnest of my inheritance already in my own breast.”
Lest
his friends should think he was going insane, he said to them: “You imagine me melancholy or distracted: I wish it were
either: but it is part of my judgment that I am not. My appreciation of persons
and things is more quick and vigorous than when I was in perfect health. O!
that I was to lie a thousand years upon the fire that never is quenched to
purchase the favour of God, and be reunited to Him again! But it is a fruitless
wish. Millions and millions of years will bring me no nearer to the end of my
torments than one poor hour! O Eternity! Eternity! Eternity!” As death
seized him, he uttered a groan of inexpressible horror and cried out, “O! the insufferable pangs of Hell! O Eternity! Forever and
forever!” - The Evangel.
*
* * *
* * *
709
WORDS ABOUT
SEEKING THE LOST
By THOMAS M.
SLATER, D.D.
WE are not equally gifted, nor are we all able to tell
the story “of
Jesus and His love” with equal persuasiveness
and power; but we all may repeat and set our seal to what others have said,
thus giving the original message a wider hearing.
This
is the purpose I now have in bringing together in one appeal some words that others
have said about what we as Christians owe to those within the circle of our
influence who are strangers to the Saviour whom we know. We meet them every
day, and perhaps talk to them about other things. Have we nothing to say to
them about salvation, or are we indifferent about doing anything for them in
this way?
The
quotations here made are some that came under my eye from time to time, which
arrested my attention, and I am glad to testify that all have helped me - one
of them having been used of the Holy Spirit to work a revolution in my own
personal attitude towards this duty. The authors from whose hearts these words
came have all finished their testimony, with a very few exceptions, and entered
into the joy of their Lord, but their words should not be allowed to die, for
their truth is needed more now than ever.
What Others
Have Said
“When God would have a man, He does it by way of a man.” - Jeremy Taylor.
“Every Christian of every age and calling is appointed as an
ambassador for Christ.”- James H.
Brooks.
“My obligation to disciple men to Jesus Christ rests upon me,
not because I am a clergyman, but because I myself am a disciple.” - Josiah Strong.
“The nearer a soul is to me, the greater the responsibility
for it.” - Theodore L. Cuyler.
“This is a lost world. We belong to the Lifesaving Service,
and it is our business to help seek and save the lost.” - Howard
W. Pope.
“If God gave the command to angels to evangelize the world,
Heaven would be empty in five minutes” - Anonymous.
“If we have been forgiven, and know it; then we, and not
angels, are commissioned to minister this same salvation unto men.” - Paget Wilkes.
“Our first concern is not to be successful in winning souls,
but to be faithful to God’s truth.”
- Matthew B. Riddle.
“Souls have to be won; and this requires a winning way - a
kind of winsomeness - in those who seek them.” - James Stalker.
“There is no other way to win a soul than by seeing in him
one whom Christ your Saviour would have you win to Him.” - L. W. Munhall.
“We do not need to be preaching in public in order to carry
Christ to others. The workshop, the warehouse, the college, and at home will
yield us hearers, if our hearts are set on winning men to Christ.” - Alexander
Maclaren.
“God often sends the impulse to go and see some very wicked
and apparently incorrigible man. That impulse should not be defeated by
unbelief in God’s power to change such a heart.” - The Pilgrim Teacher.
“While we aim at few, we shall win but few. Our successes
shall take their proportion from our faith in the universal law of the service
of Christ.” - William Arthur.
“No convert is too recent, too uninstructed, to bring others
to Christ. Convinced in his own heart that Jesus is his Saviour, he can, with
Philip, at least echo our Lord's own words to say, ‘Come and see.’” - Record
of Christian Work.
“I know that it is only in so far as I keep a close
fellowship with my risen Saviour, that I can in any way be fit for winning
souls.” - Alexander M. Mackay.
“No man has ever been a winner of souls who did not know and
believe in the Devil. Men are taken captive by him at his will. If we first
know that, then we shall know that the victory on
“If we have no concern for the unsaved, and are making no
effort in their behalf, we have sin in our own lives. I care not who you are -
minister, missionary, Bible teacher, or Christian worker of any kind - no
amount of religious activities of other kinds can exempt us from the charge of
having in our heart some sort of sin that is keeping us from this duty. It may
be fear, some kind of shame, or just plain neglect. But we know that he who ‘knoweth to do good,
and doeth it not, to him it is sin.’” - Charles M. Alexander.
“I do not believe in the Christianity of him who would keep
salvation to himself, who would make no effort to save others.” - Thomas Guthrie.
“Our task is not to bring all the world to Christ; our task
is unquestionably to bring Christ to all the world. The theology of missions,
like the theology of redemption, is Christocentric; that is to say, we take our
stand at the cross and move out to the uttermost parts of the earth, instead of
grasping the uttermost parts of the earth to move them to Christ. The tide of
the world’s desire is not toward Christ, but the tide of Christ’s desire is toward
the world; as it is written: ‘Who will have all men to be saved.’ And shall we
not move most strongly by going with the tide instead of going against it?”
- A. J. Gordon.
“‘Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you,’ said Jesus to His disciples after giving
them the Great Commission to go out and bring men to Himself. The supreme
condition of soul-winning power is the same today.” - R. A. Torrey.
“Never shall I forget the gain to conscious faith and peace
which came to my soul, not long after my first decisive and appropriating view
of the crucified Redeemer as the sinner’s sacrifice, from a more intelligent
and conscious hold upon the living and most gracious personality of the Holy
Spirit, through whose mercy my soul had got that blessed view. It was a new
development of insight into the love of God. It was a new contact, as it were,
with the inner and eternal movements of redeeming grace and power.” - Anonymous.
“I have never seen a city so completely stirred from centre to
circumference as the city of
“The Book tells us that everyone who has failed to make a choice of
Christ is lost. Lost to God, lost to holiness, lost to Heaven; and we are
unmoved. Surely it must be because we have no realization of this awful
distress.” - Edwin F. Hallenbeck.
Professor Tholuck was remarkably successful in turning wayward youths
into right paths. He gives the following account of the growth of his passion
for Christ:- “From the age of seventeen I have always
asked myself, ‘What is the chief end of man’s life’? Just then God brought me
into contact with a venerable saint who lived in fellowship with Christ, and
from that time I have had but one passion, and that is Christ, and Christ
alone. Everyone out of Christ I look upon as a fortress which I must storm and
win.” Quoted by Henry M. Tyndall.
This
passion burned in the breast of Rowland
Hill. The people of Wotton called him a madman. This was his defence:-
“While I passed along yonder road I saw a gravel pit cave in, and bury three
men alive. I hastened to the rescue, and shouted for help until they heard me
in the town almost a mile away. No one called me a madman then. But when I see
destruction about to fall on sinners, and entomb them in the eternal mass of
woe, and cry aloud, if perchance they may behold their danger and escape, they
say I am beside myself. Perhaps I am, but oh, that all God’s children might be
thus fired with desire to save their fellows.” - Selected.
It was this that led Shaftesbury to turn aside from the attractions of
a brilliant social life that he might minister to the riffraff of
This
drove Robert McAll
from his beautiful English home to the slums of
Doddridge cried: “I long for the
conversion of souls more sensibly than for anything besides.” The
sainted Bernard, after years of such
toil and sacrifice as have seldom been equalled wrote: “I cared not where or how I lived, if only I could win souls for Christ.
While I was asleep I dreamed of these things; when I waked my first thought was
of this great work.”
In
the neighbourhood of
Need of a
Life Resolve
Dr. H. Clay Trumbull, for many years editor of The
Sunday School Times, testified
that he was brought to Christ through a personal letter that was addressed to
him on that subject - though he had been brought up in a Christian home - and
at the time he received the letter was working in an office along with other
Christians, none of whom ever mentioned Christ in his presence. As a new
convert he began testifying to one of these associates who answered: “
Of
this incident Dr. Trumbull says: “Then it was that I made a purpose and resolve for life. The
purpose I formed was, as an imperative duty, not to fail in my Christian life
in the particular way just confessed. I determined that as I loved Christ, and
as Christ loved souls, I would press Christ on the individual souls of others,
and that in conversation, the theme of themes would have prominence between us,
so that I might learn his need, and, if possible, meet it.”
He
who has collected the above ringing words about seeking the lost is glad to
reaffirm and re-emphasize them as expressing his own faith; and desires no
greater joy on earth than the hope that they may help others also. -
- The Midnight Cry.
*
* *
The
passion for souls; the compassion of the Lord Jesus,
burning in the hearts and lives are present day evidence that Christ lives. A whole
Bible for the whole world, with its searching implications, calls us to a
renewed consecration to Him Who loved us with an undying love. The time is
short; the coming of the Lord to establish His
Can we, whose souls are lighted
With wisdom from on high,
Can we, to men benighted
The Lamp of life deny?
Hark! Those bursts of acclamation;
Hark! Those loud triumphant chords;
Jesus takes the highest station,
Crown Him, Crown Him
King of kings, and Lord of lords.
“They shall speak of the glory of Thy kingdom,” (Psa. 145: 11).
*
* * *
* * *
710
THE INSPIRATION OF THE SCRIPTURES
SCIENTIFICALLY DEMONSTRATED
By IVAN PANIN
For some months preceding Sunday, November 19th, 1899,
the
The
letter was reprinted by the writer himself in a pamphlet of some fifty pages
with the Greek text of Matthew 1: 1-17 and the
vocabularies thereto, enabling the scholarly reader to verify his statements
for himself.
* *
*
SIR:- In today’s
SUN Mr. W.R.L. calls for a “champion of orthodoxy” to “step into the arena of the
SUN,” and give him some facts:
1. The first 17 verses of the New
Testament contain the genealogy of the Christ. It consists of two main parts: Verses 1-11
cover the period from Abraham, the father of the chosen people, to the
Captivity, when they ceased as an independent people. Verses
12-17 cover the period from the
Captivity to the promised Deliverer, the Christ.
Let
us examine the first part of this genealogy.
Its
vocabulary has 49 words, or 7 x.7. This number is itself seven (Feature 1)
sevens (Feature 2), and the sum of its factors is 2 sevens (Feature 3). Of
these 49 words 28, or 4 sevens, begin with a vowel; and 21, or 3 sevens, begin
with a consonant (Feature 4).
Again:
these 49 words of the vocabulary have 266 letters, or 7 x 2 x 19; this number is
itself 38 sevens (Feature 5), and the sum of its factors is 28, or 4 sevens
(Feature 6), while the sum of its figures is 14, or 2 sevens (Feature 7). Of
these 266 letters, moreover, 140, or 20 sevens, are vowels, and 126, or 18
sevens, are consonants (Feature 8).
That
is to say: Just as the number of words in the vocabulary is a multiple of
seven, so is the number of its letters a multiple of seven; just as the sum of
the factors of the number of the words is a multiple of seven, so is the sum of
the factors of the number of their letters a multiple of seven. And just as the
number of words is divided between vowel words and consonant words by seven, so
is their number of letters divided between vowels and consonants by sevens.
Again:
of these 49 words 35, or 5 sevens, occur more than once in the passage; and 14,
or 2 sevens, occur but once (Feature 9); seven occur in more than one form, and
42, or 6 sevens, occur in only one form (Feature 10). And among the parts of
speech the 49 words are thus divided: 42, or 6 sevens, are nouns, seven are not
nouns (Feature 11). Of the nouns 35, or 5 sevens, are Proper names, seven are
common nouns (Feature 12). Of the Proper names 28 are male ancestors of the
Christ, and seven are not (Feature 13). …
Let Mr. W. R.
L. try to write some 300 words intelligently like this genealogy, and
reproduce some numeric phenomena of like designs. If he does it in 6 months, he
will indeed do a wonder. Let us assume that Matthew accomplished this feat in
one month.
2. The second part of this chapter, verses 18-25, relates the birth of the Christ. It consists
of 161 words, or 23 sevens; occurring in 105 forms, or 15 sevens with a
vocabulary of 77 words or 11 sevens. Joseph is spoken to here by the angel.
Accordingly, of the 77 words the angel uses 28, or 4 sevens; of the 105 forms
he uses 35, or 5 sevens; the numeric value of the vocabulary is 52.605, or
7,515 sevens; of the forms, 65,429, or 9,347 sevens.
This
enumeration only begins as it were barely to scratch the surface of the
numerics of this passage. But what is specially noteworthy here is the fact
that the angel’s speech has also a scheme of sevens making it a kind of ring
within a ring, a wheel within a wheel. If Mr. L. can write a similar passage of
161 words with the same scheme of sevens alone (though there are several others
here) in some three years, he would accomplish a still greater wonder. Let us
assume that Matthew accomplished
this feat in only 6 months.
3. The second chapter of Matthew tells of the childhood of the Christ. Its
vocabulary has 161 words, or 23 sevens, with 896 letters, or 128 sevens, and
238 forms, or 34 sevens; the numeric value of the vocabulary is 123,529, or
17,647 sevens; of the forms, 166,985, or 23,855 sevens; and so on through pages
of enumeration. This chapter has at least four logical divisions, and each
division shows alone the same phenomena found in the chapter as a whole. Thus
the first six verses have a vocabulary of 56 words, or 8 sevens, etc. There are
some speeches here: Herod speaks, the Magi speak, the angel speaks. But so
pronounced are the numeric phenomena here, that though there are as it were
numerous rings within rings, and wheels within wheels, each is perfect in
itself, though forming all the while only part of the rest.
If Mr. L. can write a chapter like this as naturally
as Matthew writes, but containing in some 500 words so many intertwined yet
harmonious numeric features, in say the rest of his days - whatever his ‘age
now, or the one to which he is to attain: if he thus accomplish it at all, it
will indeed be marvel of marvels. Let us assume that Matthew accomplished this
feat in only 3 years.
4. There is not, however, a single paragraph of the scores in Matthew that
is not constructed in exactly the same manner. Only with each additional
paragraph the difficulty of constructing it increases not in arithmetical but
in geometrical progression. For he contrives to write his paragraphs so as to
develop constantly fixed numeric relations to what goes before and after. Thus
in his last chapter he contrives to use just 7 words not used by him before. It
would thus be easy to show that Mr. L. would require some centuries to write a
book like Matthew’s. How long it took Matthew the writer does not know. But how
he contrived to do it between the Crucifixion, A.D. 30 (and his Gospel could
not have been written earlier), and the destruction of
Anyhow
Matthew did it, and we thus have a miracle - an unheard-of literary,
mathematical artist, unequalled, hardly even conceivable. This is the first
fact for Mr. L. to contemplate.
A
second fact is yet more imporatnt: In his very first
section, the genealogy discussed above, the words found nowhere else in the New Testament, occur 42
times, 7 x 6; and have 126 letters, 7 x 6 x 3, each number a multiple not only
of seven, but of 6 sevens, to name only two of the many numeric features of
these words. But how did Matthew know, when designing this scheme for these
words (whose sole characteristic is that they are found nowhere else in the New
Testament) that they would not be found in the other 26 books? that they would not be used by
the other 7 New Testament writers? Unless we assume the impossible hypothesis
that he had an agreement with them to that effect, he must have had the rest of
the New Testament before him when he wrote his book. The Gospel of Matthew, then, was
written last.
5. It so happens, however, that the Gospel of Mark shows the very same
phenomena. Thus the very passage called so triumphantly in today’s SUN a “forgery,” the Last
Twelve Verses of Mark, presents among
some sixty features
of sevens the following phenomena: It has 175 words, or 25 sevens, a vocabulary
of 98 words, or 2 sevens of sevens, with 553 letters, or 79 sevens; 133 forms,
or 19 sevens, and so on to the minutest detail.
Mark,
then, is another miracle, another unparalleled literary genius. And in the same
way in which it was shown that Matthew wrote last it is also shown that Mark,
too, wrote last. Thus to take an example from this very passage: It has just
one word found nowhere else in the New Testament, [see the Greek word…] deadly. This fact is signalled by no less than seven features of sevens,
thus: Its numeric value is 581, or 83 sevens, with the sum of its figures 14,
or 2 sevens, of which the letters 3, 5, 7, 9 from the BEGINNING of the word have 490, or 7 x 7 x 5 x 2: a multiple of seven sevens, with the
sum of its factors 21, or 3 sevens. In the vocabulary it is preceded by 42
words, 7 x 6; in the passage itself by 126 words, or 7 x 6 x 3, both numbers
multiples not only of seven, but of 6 sevens. We have thus established before
us this third fact for Mr. L. to contemplate: Matthew surely wrote after Mark, and
Mark just as surely wrote after Matthew.
6. It happens, however, to be a fourth fact, that Luke presents the same
phenomena as Matthew and Mark, and so do John, and James, and Peter, and Jude,
and Paul. And we have thus no longer two great unheard-of mathematical
literati, but eight of them and each
wrote after the other.
7. And not only this: As Luke and Peter wrote each 2 books, John 5, and
Paul 14, it can in the same way be shown that each of the 27 New Testament
books was written last. In fact, not a page of the over 500 in Westcott and Hort’s Greek edition (which the writer has used throughout)
but it can be demonstrated thus to have been written last.
The
phenomena are there and there is no human way of explaining them. Eight men
cannot each write last, 27 books, some 500 pages, cannot each be written last. But once assume that one Mind directed the
whole, and the problem is solved simply enough; but this is Verbal Inspiration
- of every jot and tittle of the New Testament.
There
remains only to be added that by precisely the same kind of evidence the Hebrew
Old Testament is proved to be equally inspired. Thus the very first verse of
Genesis has seven words, 28 letters, or 4 sevens: to name only two out of the
dozens of numeric features of this one verse of only seven words - N.Y. SUN,
Nov. 21st, 1899 - CORRECTED.
To
this letter several replies appeared in the SUN, but not a single answer. For in
only three ways can it be refuted.
(a)
By showing that the facts are not as here given.
(b)
By showing that it is possible for 8 men to write each after the other 7; for
27 books, or some 500 pages, to be each in its turn written last.
(c)
By showing that even if the facts be true, the arithmetic faultless, and the
collocation of the numerics honest, it does not follow that mere men could not
have written this without Inspiration from above.
Accordingly,
as many as nine noted rationalists (of whom Drs. Lyman Abbot and Charles
W. Eliot are still living [now in 1927 also gone to where they may know]
were respectfully but publicly invited to refute the writer. One was not “interested” in the writer’s “arithmetical”
doings; two “regretted” that they “had no time” to give heed thereto. Another “did not mean to be unkind,” but .... The rest were
silent. For the special benefit of these the writer printed the original data
with numerous details, enabling them in the easiest manner to verify every
statement made by him, if they
wished. And to the
best of his ability he has for years seen to it that no scholar whom surely
these things specially concern should remain in ignorance of the facts here
recounted, and of hundreds of like cogency.
A notable
exception to the above is a lawyer of standing [now also dead], whose books on
Law are deemed as of authority. He had intelligence enough and candour withal to confess
that the case for the Bible as made out by the writer is impregnable, that the
Bible is thus proved to be an “absolutely unique book.”
This much the case itself extorts from the but too well equipped writer on - EVIDENCE; and accordingly he henceforth reads the writer’s
Numerics with intense appreciation. And then, fresh from this confession, he
betakes himself once more to the circulation of his anti-Christian books in the
writing of which he joys to spend his leisure hours.
In
the second letter to the N.Y. SUN the author, in discussing some
irrelevant “answers” to his first letter,
recited the three ways of refuting him and then continued:-
“No sane man will try to refute me by the second method. To
refute me by the first method I herewith respectfully invite any or all of the
following to prove that my facts are not facts: namely Messrs. Lyman Abbott,
Washington Gladden, Reber Newton, Minot J. Savage,
Presidents Eliot of Harvard, White of Cornell, and Harper, the University of
Chicago, Professor J. Henry Thayer of Harvard, and Dr. Briggs, and any other
prominent higher critic so called. They may associate with themselves, if they
choose, all the contributors of the ninth edition of the Encyclopedia
Britannica who wrote its articles on Biblical subjects, together with a dozen
mathematicians of the calibre of Professor Simon Newcomb. The heavier the
calibre of either scholar or mathematician, the more satisfactory to me.
“They will find that my facts are facts. And since they are
facts, I am ready to take them to any three prominent lawyers, or, better
still, to any judge of the
“All I should ask would be that the judge treat the case as
he would any other case that comes before him: declining to admit matters for
discussion as irrelevant when they are irrelevant; and listening patiently to
both sides, as he does in any trial.”
*
* * *
* * *
711
THINGS THAT
ACCOMPANY SALVATION
By ARLEN L.
CHITWOOD
-------
But, beloved, we are persuaded better things of you, and things that
accompany salvation, though we thus speak. For God is not unrighteous to forget your work
and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have
ministered to the saints, and do minister. And we desire that every one of you do shew
the same diligence to the full assurance of hope unto the end: That ye be not
slothful, but followers of them who through faith and patience inherit
the promises: (Heb. 6: 9-12).
In the third of the five major warnings in Hebrews, the writer first dealt with the negative
side of matters. He began by revealing that the recipients of his message were
spiritually immature; but, at the same time, he exhorted them to “go on unto perfection [‘maturity’] (5: 11 - 6: 6). Then, by
way of illustration, drawing from nature, he looked at the matter from both
positive and negative aspects (vv. 7, 8). And
following that, the writer turned entirely to the positive side and finished
the exhortation (begun in v. 1) after this fashion.
Verse nine could perhaps
be better understood by translating:
“But, beloved, though we are speaking this way, we are persuaded better things of you, things which accompany [i.e., ‘things which have to do with’] salvation” (ref. NIV).
Concerning
that to which the writer referred - that which he had been speaking about - he
had begun by dealing with the fact that the recipients of his message were “dull of hearing,” babes in Christ (5: 11-14). Then he dealt with the possibility of a Christian falling away after he had been allowed to go on unto maturity,
resulting in the Christian (through such a falling away) bringing shame and
reproach upon the name of Christ (6: 1-6). And
all of this would compare, in the world of nature, to bringing forth fruit (works, resulting in fruit-bearing) comparable to “thorns and briers,”
which could only be “rejected ... whose end is to
be burned” (6: 8).
But
before paralleling falling away with the thought of bringing forth fruit
comparable to “thorns
and briers,” the writer introduced
another type fruit-bearing - comparable to bringing forth “herbs meet for them
by whom it is dressed” (v. 7) - anticipating the positive side of the matter
beginning in verse nine.
The
nurturing source for this type fruit is “the rain [from heaven],” and
this fruit is associated with “blessings from God.” And both the nurturing source and the blessings come from above. The
thought has to do with fruit-bearing through the proper nurturing source,
followed by blessings from God.
Contextually,
for a Christian, this would have to do with drinking in the Water of life, the
Word of God, which comes from above (cf. John 2:
6-9; 4: 14); and, through
normal growth and activity after this fashion (feeding upon the Word, and, at
the same time, allowing works to emanate out of faith [faithfulness]), the
individual would mature in the faith and bring forth fruit of a proper kind.
That is, as illustrated from the world of nature, he would bring forth “herbs meet for them by whom
it is dressed” rather than “thorns and briers.”
BETTER
THINGS
The
recipients of this message were exhorted to leave the infantile things upon
which they had been feeding and go on unto maturity. They were exhorted to stop laying foundations and begin building upon the
foundational truths which they already understood (vv. 1, 2). And
the writer was persuaded “better things”
of them than a falling away in the process, with its corresponding
fruit-bearing described by the words, “thorns and briers”
(vv. 3-9).
Within the text, “better things”
are the “things
that accompany [‘have to do with’]
salvation.” One parallels
the other in this respect. Or, to state the matter another way, that encompassed within the expression “better things” from verse
nine is associated with fruit-bearing from verse
seven, which, in turn, is intimately connected with works from verse ten (works emanating out of faithfulness,
resulting in fruit-bearing of a proper type); and the goal in view - through
this interrelated process of faith and works, resulting in fruit-bearing - is “salvation”(v.
9).
Viewing
the matter within the scope of the revealed fashion, one should easily be able
to see what salvation is in view. It can’t be salvation by grace through
faith (Eph. 2:
8, 9; Heb.
1: 3), for our presently possessed [eternal] salvation cannot, after any fashion, be associated
with man’s works, with fruit-bearing. The salvation which is ours as a free
gift through the work of Another. And not only has the work been completed, but
God is satisfied with this finished work. Nothing can ever be added or taken
away (John 19: 30).
The salvation referred to in Heb. 6: 9 is the same salvation to which the writer
referred earlier in the warning (5: 9). And, before that, he had referred to
this [future] salvation as “so great salvation” (2:
3). Then later in the book he refers to this
salvation in connection with [resurrection
at]
Christ’s return (9: 27, 28). And then after that he refers to the same salvation as “the saving of the soul” (10: 39).
The salvation in view is connected with a future
inheritance (1: 2, 14),
which is acquired “through faith and patience” (6: 12, 15). It
is “the hope set
before us,” which is “an anchor of the soul” (6:
18, 19).
This is the salvation with which Hebrews concerns itself throughout. The entire book deals with this [future] salvation, not with salvation by grace through
faith. And when an individual grasps this fundamental truth, not only will the
Book of Hebrews begin to open to his
understanding but so will numerous other sections of Scripture as well.
1. SALVATION BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH
Let
it be forever said that a Christian’s presently possessed eternal salvation was
acquired completely separate from any works or merit on unredeemed man’s part.
Works or merit, pertaining to eternal salvation, all
have to do with Christ’s finished
work at Calvary; and man is saved solely on the basis of that which Christ has done, not on the
basis of anything which man has done, is doing, or will ever do.
The
simple fact is that Christ completed the work, in its entirety, because
unredeemed man is totally incapable of acting in this realm, even in the most
minute degree. Not only is he dead, rendering
him powerless to act, but he is also alienated from God. And apart from Christ’s action on his
behalf, he would forever remain in his present dead, alienated state (Eph. 2: 1, 12).
To
illustrate man’s inability to act in this realm, refer to a Greek word used in 1 Cor. 15: 52 - the
word atomos, from which we derive our English word
“atom.” The word is translated in this verse, “a moment.” The reference is to the length of the time which will
elapse within the scope of Christians being removed from the earth (raised from
the dead and translated) and appearing in the Lord’s presence in the air. This
will occur in an atomos of time,
further described as comparable to the time-lapse in “the twinkling of an eye.”
The
word atomos has to do with “minuteness”; and in 1 Cor. 15: 52 it refers to the smallest unit into which time
can be divided, beyond which there can be no further division. A microsecond (one
millionth of a second) is a common expression used in our computerized world
today. But there are divisions beyond that - a billionth of a second, a
trillionth of a second, etc.
Atomos, in 1 Cor.
15: 52,
referring to “time,” goes to the fartherest point
conceivable. This word refers to a particle of time so minute that the only way
to really describe it is through the use of the word atomos itself. That is how fast the future
resurrection and translation of Christians will occur.
Now,
bring the word atomos over into the
realm of works. Insofar as man’s eternal salvation is concerned, he cannot do
even an atomos of work in
this realm. It is impossible for him to perform even the most minute particle of
any type work conceivable, for, in the spiritual realm he is dead.
And
salvation, in its totality, has to do with a spiritual birth from above (John 3:
3-6) - a
realm in which unredeemed man is totally incapable of acting. In order for man
to act in the spiritual, to even a degree described by the word atomos, he must first be made alive
spiritually. He must first pass “from death unto life” (John 5: 24).
And this is effected through - only and completely through - the birth from above.
All
man can do is receive that which has already been done on his behalf. He can do
no more than “believe
on [put his trust, reliance in]”
the One Who has performed the Work on his behalf. This is the clear testimony
of Scripture from the opening verses of Genesis (depicting
events which occurred 4,000 years preceding Calvary [and also prior to this
period] to the closing verses of Revelation (depicting
events which will occur 3,000 years following
God's
means for redeeming fallen man never changes throughout Scripture. God established a first-mention
principle relative to the matter at the very beginning of His revelation to
man, in the opening verses of the first chapter of Genesis;
and once the matter had been established after this fashion, no change could ever occur.
Scripture,
at the very beginning, presents the matter of man’s passage “from death unto life” as a work
performed entirely through Divine intervention. The Spirit moved, God spoke, and light came into
existence (Gen. 12b,
3). The ruined creation (Gen. 1: 2a) had no part in the matter at the beginning,
and the ruined creation (Eph. 2: 12) can have
no part in the matter at any subsequent point in time.
To
say that individuals were saved or will be saved via other means in either past
or future dispensations (through keeping the law, through any type works, etc.)
is a total misunderstanding (to use stronger language, it is a violation, a
corruption) of that which God has established as unchangeable at the very
beginning of His Word.
Unsaved
man simply cannot act in the spiritual realm. Such is impossible. And there is no such thing as man, at any point in his history (past,
present, or future) being partly saved and able to perform works to complete
his salvation. It is either all or nothing. Man is either completely saved or he is not saved to
even an atomos of a degree.
As
stated in Jonah 2: 9, “Salvation is of the Lord.” It has always been that way, it remains that way
today, and it always will be that way.
2. SALVATION OF
THE SOUL
The
salvation of the soul though is another matter entirely. The spiritual birth
from above - salvation by grace through faith - has to do with man’s spirit, not with his soul. Redeemed man, a
trichotomous being, has a redeemed spirit, an unredeemed soul (that part of man
which is in the process of being redeemed), and an unredeemed body (not
presently being redeemed, as the soul, but to be redeemed at Christ’s return).
Insofar
as man’s spirit is concerned, salvation is a finished matter. This is the part
of man which was made alive at the time of the birth from above (John 3: 3-6). Then,
redeemed man’s soul is in the process of being saved (cf.
1 Cor. 1: 18; Heb. 1:14; 10: 36-39), a salvation to be realized in its completeness
(or not realized) at the time Christians appear before the judgment seat of
Christ at the end of the present dispensation (1
Peter 1: 4-9). And the salvation
- “redemption” - of the body is entirely future [Rom. 8: 23] and will be
realized at the time of Christ’s return for
his Church [‘of the first-born’ (Heb.
12: 23,
R.V.], immediately
preceding [following (Heb. 9: 27)] events at the
judgment seat* (Rom. 8: 23).
[* NOTE: This judgment must occur immediately after
death (Heb. 9:
27), and therefore before ‘the first resurrection’! See Heb.10: 35-39; Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Rev. 6: 9-11; 20: 5, R.V.]
Thus
man, as a trichotomous being, has been saved, is being saved, and is about to be saved. Salvation, within its complete scope, is not only past but is also present and
future as well.
However, one must exercise care when
dealing with these different aspects of salvation so as not to confuse one with
the other. Verses of Scripture which pertain to one must not be removed from their contexts and applied to the
other. If this is done, the end result will be two-fold: - (a) confusion
concerning the salvation message on the one hand and (b) corruption of the
salvation message on the other.
For example the salvation of the spirit is dependent
entirely upon the finished work of Christ at
And
one can easily see what would happen if a person took Scriptures having to do with
the present aspect of salvation and applied them to the past aspect, or vice
versa. Man’s works would either be brought over into an area where works of
this nature cannot exist (brought over into the message of salvation by grace
through faith), or such works would be rendered meaningless through trying to
place the message of salvation by grace through faith (where man’s works cannot
exist) within the present aspect of salvation (where man’s works must be
operative).
Through
the salvation effected by the birth from above (which has to do with the spirit), man has been placed in a
position where he can perform works acceptable or pleasing to God (which has to
do with [the time of resurrection
(Ps. 16: 10. cf. Acts 2: 27,
R.V.) and] the ‘soul’). Works are now possible, for he now has
spiritual life and can exercise faith in the realm from which [a
regenerate] man’s works can
ensue.
That
is, after he has passed “from death unto life” he can then exercise faith in his spiritual life - a life which he did
not possess prior to the birth from above - and works, pleasing to God, can
emanate only out of faithfulness of this nature.
It is in this [future] aspect of salvation with which the book of Hebrews deals. The warnings apply to the saving or losing of the soul, never the spirit [i.e.,
it has nothing to do with our salvation by grace]. The
former can be forfeited, but not the latter; and a person must be in possession
of the latter before anything in the former would even apply in his life.
*
* * *
* * *
712
HABAKKUK
A study of the prophet
Habakkuk by Robert Waughman
Paul wrote to
Titus “Jesus
Christ, who gave Himself for
us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a
people that are His very own, eager to do what is
good.” (2: 14) This is Christ’s intent for all mankind, Jew and
Gentile. Something we must have foremost in our minds when
praying for the salvation of
Is Habakkuk, a prophet of
Although
he was a prophet to
Hebrews 8: 9: “This is the covenant
I will make with the house of
Habakkuk’s
name ‘wrestler’ fits his role with God. Unlike
other Prophets he doesn’t speak to the nation or the nations around, but
addresses only God in prayer. A Prophet’s role was to speak to men on behalf of
God, priests speak to God on behalf of man. Habakkuk’s role was as prophet and
priest. We also in our prayers for
He
was a questioning Prophet, wanting to know ‘why’ and
‘how’.
Chapter
1:
1-3
The
answers although quite surprising, were granted. He wrote as a watchman on the
walls of
Josiah’s reformation was receding -
Habakkuk foretells
He started to prophesy one year after the book of the
law had been found.
Habakkuk’s question and God’s answer goes a long way to
giving the answer to the apparent triumph of evil in God’s world. How can God,
who is righteous and all sufficient permit it? Habakkuk’s problem was finding
God’s will. For us today, ‘Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ is central
to how we should pray effectively.
It’s a perfect illustration of the way
God changes the soul
We
start with a burden which is lifted by vision, and results in the effective
prayer of faith. “Without
prophetic vision, the people perish
(or give up)” says Proverbs 29: 18. ‘Thy word is a lamp to our feet and a light t to our path”
- Psalm 119: 105...
So there is near and far vision.
Habakkuk puts three questions to God.
1. How
long, O LORD, must I call for help, but you do not
listen? Or cry out to you,
“Violence!” but you
do not save? (1: 2)
2. Why do you make me look at
injustice? Why do
you tolerate wrong? Destruction and
violence are before me; there is strife,
and conflict abounds. (1: 3)
3. Your eyes are too pure to look
on evil; you
cannot tolerate wrong. Why then do you
tolerate the treacherous? Why are you silent
while the wicked swallow up those more righteous than themselves?
(1:13)
We [Christians
today] need to ask God why!
The
crisis when Habakkuk called for help was “violence”; the response
he expected from God was that He should “save.” “Violence”, a flagrant violation of God’s moral law, its
underlying meaning is of ethical wrong, physical brutality being one possible
expression.
To
“save” means to deliver from what oppresses or restricts. Such [future] salvation is
to be found ultimately only in the Lord, by those who are righteous (faithful)
toward Him.
God answers in Chapter
1: 6 “I am raising up the Babylonians.” Despite this shocking answer - God is in absolute
charge of history. Leaders, good and bad, are God’s chosen men raised up
today to achieve His purpose. US President Trump has been called the
modern Cyrus in Israel!
Habakkuk
doesn’t worry about the awful circumstances, complaining about the seeming
injustice of God. As God’s servant he is
content to wait and watch. “I will stand at my watch and station myself on the ramparts;
I will look to see what He will say to me, and what answer I am to give to this complaint.” (2: 1) He waits on God. We often fail to
see the glory of the future because of the present gloom, forgetting that
storms are passing, not permanent.
Habakkuk gets out of the fog of fear by
faith
God
gives an answer, responding to his prayer of faith. Chapter 2 explains that if we commit our problem to God and leave
it with God, we shouldn’t brood, fret or fuss. One of the hardest things to
do is wait, especially when we have a prayer burden and God seems
inactive or indifferent.
Waiting
on God isn’t lost time. Habakkuk saw that God was going to make the Babylonians
His instruments of judgement, then He would judge the Babylonians, and He will do so today in
“The prophetic ‘appointed time’ is symbolic of ‘
human
pride in a society constructed without due reverence to God.”
Then
Yahweh replied: “Write down the
revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation
awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly
come and will not delay.” (2:
2-3)
Habakkuk
was told to write the vision upon tablets, large, plain, readable letters, so
the reader could quickly understand. It was customary to put notices in public
places where people could read them, then pass on the information by word of
mouth, or write the message on a tablet for runners to carry the message in a
type of relay. That relay race continued, and God’s
message given through Habakkuk carried on through the centuries.*
[* And it is as
revelent today as it was in Habakkuk’s day, - “For I the Lord
change
not” (Malachi 3: 6, R.V.).]
What was the
message?
“See, he (
But
the just shall live by faith (faithfulness toward God). The just shall live in
peaceful resignation to God’s will, in spite of the prevalence of injustice and
violence, because his trust is in the living God. ‘Faith’ here includes the meaning of faithfulness, a
faithfulness that saves. They must go on
believing and keep faith in [obedience to] God, no
matter what the circumstances. This
verse is used three times in the NT teaching the same truth. Romans 1: 16 teaches
righteousness begins and ends with faith. Salvation [of the soul] is experienced by those who go on believing [and
obeying God! (Heb. 10: 36-39, R.V.).] Glatians 3:11, addresses self-righteous. No one is justified
by keeping the law because the righteous will live by faith, Only Ongoing trust
in Christ saves. Hebrews 10: 37 “But My righteous one
will live by faith (his
faithfulness). And if he shrinks back, I will not be
pleased with him. But we are not of those if who shrink back and are destroyed, but of those who
believe (go on
believing - trusting [and obeying]) and are saved.* Hebrews was written to Jewish believers who because of
Roman persecution were on the point of losing hope and giving up Christ - going
back into the apparent safely of Judaism. The book continues on with a list of
those who in the past carried on believing, and were subsequently
commended and rewarded for their faithfulness. Hebrews 11:
39 “These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised.”
[* Note verses 35-37: “Cast not away therefore your boldness [Gk. ‘confidence’], which hath great REWARD.
36. For ye have need
of patience, that HAVING DONE the will of God, ye may receive the promise. 37
For yet a little while, He
that cometh [Christ / Messiah] shall come, and shall not
tarry.”
The
‘soul’ is that part of a man, which descends
into Hades at the time of death. (Luke 16: 23. cf.
Acts 2: 31.)
This is therefore a reference to a future salvation - “the salvation of your souls” (1 Pet. 5: 9, 5): the result of which lies beyond this present evil
age. (Matt. 16:
24-27.
cf. James 1: 21.)
“For what is a man profited,
if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own SOUL? For
the Son of man SHALL come” - [to
resurrect the ‘holy’ dead (Rev. 20: 5), and reign over this earth, from “the throne of His father David”: (Luke 1: 32)] - “in the glory of his Father
with his angels; and THEN shall he REWARD every man according to his WORKS.”]
God’s
promise to Habakkuk is yet
to be fulfilled. “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of Yahweh,
as the waters cover the sea.”
(2: 14) The supreme pledge in Christ is that He is working out
His wonderful purpose for mankind.
Habakkuk
ends with a three-fold petition: “Yahweh, I have heard of your
fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, O LORD. Renew them in our
day, in our time make them known; in wrath remember mercy.” (3: 2)
1. Revive
thy work
2. Reveal
thy power
3. Remember
mercy in wrath
His
prayer is answered - he is given a
vision of God coming in majesty and power (3:
3-16). God is still on the throne and hears the cries of His
servant. Habakkuk looks toward heaven and regardless of what is to come finds reason to rejoice in the lord: “Though the fig tree does not
bud and there are no grapes on the vines, though
the olive crop fails and the fields produce no food, though there are no sheep in the pen and no cattle in the
stalls, yet
I will rejoice in Yahweh, I will be joyful in God my Saviour.” (3: 17).
The
Babylonians introduced a scorched earth policy. Habakkuk knew that when the
Babylonians came nothing would be left.
Where did he
find this faith?
“The Sovereign LORD
is my strength; He makes my feet like the feet
of a deer; He enables me to go on the heights.”
(3: 19) Praise the lord!
*
* * *
* * *
713
The MYSTERY
of
By DEREK ROUS
Despite all the
shakings going on today, in the financial capitals and the governments of the
world, especially those that are seeking the destruction of Israel, we need to
appreciate that God is at work and He has not lost control.
There
is a huge spiritual battle for truth going v on today and it doesn’t just
involve
The battle for
Amassing proof texts concerning God’s
purposes for Israel is
insufficient on its own, just as trying to prove that Jesus is the only way
truth and life to someone who refuses to believe it? Why? Because it is a spiritual
matter. 1 Cor. 2: 6-16 goes
into the matter that some things only come by revelation. There is a spiritual battle going on today. Just as
Satan tried to kill Israel as they emerged from Egypt using Amalek, the
descendant of Esau/Edom (Ex. 17: 8-14) and as the Idumean (Edom) King
Herod tried to kill Jesus the Messiah on His arrival in Bethlehem (Matt. 2: 16), so he is trying [through his followers and descendents today] to do the same again to prevent the return of
Jesus, this time in order to establish His Messianic rule and [millennial] reign over the earth.
For
a long time, there has been a veil over the hearts of
THREE
IMPORTANT MYSTERIES
1. Jesus Christ is a mystery to many. So Says, 1 Cor. 2: 7; Eph. 3: 3, 4, 9; 5: 32; 6: 19; Col. 1: 26, 27; 2: 2; 4: 3.
2. The Second coming of Jesus is also a mystery. (1 Cor. 15: 51.)
3. But
Prayer
changes things! Our prayer is that people can change. So, wherever you are,
just as you pray for “Light” to shine
upon His people
There
may not be huge numbers praying, but it’s not about numbers. Its “...not by might or
power but by My Spirit says the Lord.” (Zech. 4: 6.)
We
cannot change God’s purposes but we can pray for people to receive a revelation
from God. Scripture shows that through history God has found it difficult to find
intercessors, especially at times of great apostasy. (Ezek. 22:
30; Isa. 59:
16.) We also need to be sensitive to the
fact that sometimes even when there are those prepared to pray, over some
matters, the Lord expressly commands His intercessors to stop praying. (Jer. 7: 16.)
The
concern today is that when people who have known the truth, actively turn away
from it and become the enemy of God - praying for such becomes very difficult
and one begins instead to fear greatly for the person. Our prayer at that time
can only be “... in
wrath Lord, remember mercy.” It’s a huge sadness to the Lord, but we can thank and
rejoice in Him for the grace He has shown us.
THE PURPOSE
OF PROPHECY
One
of the contentious matters of debate in theological circles today is the
relevance of Biblical prophecy, especially in relation to
Here,
Peter is assuring his hearers that when the Prophets predicted the person and
ministry of Jesus, they expected their words would literally be fulfilled. Equally, the reference to - “… the restoration of
all things,” related to
the restoration of
Acts 1: 6 reveals the
Apostles great longing for the Kingdom
to be restored to
There
are many prophecies that speak of the Messiah that have already been fulfilled.
Is it therefore inconsistent to expect a similar outcome for prophecies
relating to the restoration of
IN THE O.T. PROPHECIES ARE IN
THE FOLLOWING CATAGORIES
* Immediate events relating to situations the prophet was
involved in. Almost all
of
these are
warnings of coming calamities as a result of disobedience (Jer. 25: 1-14.)
* Prophecies of
others to a worldwide
dispersion and restoration. (Jer. 29. & Ezek.
36.)
* Prophecies of the coming Messiah as a suffering
servant -
fulfilled by
Jesus at His first Coming. (Isa. 53.)
* Prophecies of world catastrophe, plus conflict over
that
precedes the ‘day of the Lord.’ (Isa. 24. & Zech.
12.)
* Prophecies of world peace and blessing, following the
‘day of the Lord’
and the
coming of the Messiah as the reigning king. (Isa. 2.
& Zech. 14.)
“Prophecies were warnings of judgement to the nations in O.T. times,
unless they repented. In the N.T. there is virtually no record of similar
prophecies to the surrounding nations.”
IN THE NEW TESTAMENT WE HAVE SIMILAR
CATEGORIES
SHOWING FULFILLMENTS OF PROPHECY
*
The main prophecy of an immediate event is Jesus’ words concerning the coming destruction
of
*
This leads into a prophecy of the dispersion of the Jewish people but includes indications of their return
to
*
Since the main subject of the NT is Jesus the Messiah, the Gospels
themselves are the fulfilment of the
third category of O.T. prophecy of the coming Messiah.
*
Both Jesus and His disciples gave numerous prophecies of the catastrophes that
would come at the end of this [apostate] age, the last days before the return of Christ. (Matt. 24.; 2 Thess. 2. & Rev. 6-19.)
There
is only
one passage which clearly relates to
the O.T. passages about the reign of Messiah, but it is plain in it’s meaning: that following the
return of Christ at the battle of Armageddon He will rule on earth for 1,000 years,
during which time Satan will be bound and unable to deceive the nations. (Rev. 20.)
HOW
DIFFERENT ARE N.T. PROPHECIES?
Prophecies
were warnings of judgement to the nations in O.T. times, unless they repented. In the N.T. there is virtually no record of similar
prophecies to the surrounding nations. The two in ACTS are both warnings of bad
things. Agabus - [a Holy Spirit
filled divine prophet]
- warns of famine in Acts 11: 28
and in Acts
21: 11 Paul is warned of his coming captivity.
*
In 1 Cor. 12: 10 Prophecy is listed as a Gift of the [Holy] Spirit
but given for the Church. But the N.T. reminds us, “Prophecy did not
come by the will of man but Holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the
Holy Spirit.” 2 Peter 1:
21. Holiness [and obedience to Christ’s precepts (Acts 5: 32)] still needs to
characterise those who bring a prophetic Word.
*
Discernment
is needed to ensure it is from God. “Not all who say unto
me Lord, Lord ...
but Lord have we
not prophesied in your name.” (Matt 7: 22.) Beware of many false prophets. (2 Peter 1: 21; 1 John 4: 1; Rev. 19: 20.) The O.T. had the same concerns, see Jer. 23.
*
All
can prophecy but all will not fulfil the role of a prophet. “Your sons and daughters shall
prophecy...” (Acts 2: 17),
“but any woman who prophecies with her head uncovered ...”
(1 Cor. 11: 5.) Philip’s
daughters. (Acts 21: 9.)
* Prophecy is not to be despised. “Desire earnestly to prophecy”: (1 Cor. 14: 39)
* Are prophets for today? YES.* “We know in part and
prophesy in part but when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part will be done away.” (1 Cor. 13: 9-10.)
JEWISH
PEOPLE AND THE LAND
Dozens
of prophecies of the O.T. relate to Jesus and
Is
it spiritual? Did God mean the Church?
If one spiritualises
THE CHALLENGE FOR BIBLE BELIEVING
CHRISTIANS
Those
who have become obsessed with Replacement Theology seem to have become driven
by new forces. The fact that
THEOLOGICAL
FATHER FIGURES
The
roots of Replacement Theology can be
traced back beyond earlier church fathers than John Calvin and Martin
Luther. These two great reformers paid a high price for their understanding
of “Justification
by Faith alone.” However, their understanding
of the Jews was limited for personal reasons, as they both saw the Jewish
Communities in
On
the one side, “The New Perspectives on Paul” movement
and on the other, the “Jewish Roots” Theology, which lead to misplaced
concern for the sins of ‘the Church’ are both
trying to challenge the work of God through the Gospel to the Jew first. Did
you know that the gospel of Jesus was an offence to Jews before Church history
began? Isa. 8: 14; Rom. 9: 33; 1 Peter 2: 8.
But
“There is no other
Name under heaven, given among men whereby we all must
be saved.” Acts 4: 12.
*
* * *
* * *
714
THE LIFE
THAT PLEASES GOD
By A. T. SCHOFIELD,
M.D., M.R.S.C., &
Our
Awarder and Awards.
[PART ONE OF THREE]
-------
THERE was a time
when it was generally believed that Christians went to Heaven when they died,
the intermediate state under the name of Purgatory being but an invention of
the Roman Catholics. It is now, however, I think, generally admitted that there
is a place for the present abode of departed spirits [and
disembodied souls - (Psa. 16: 10; Acts 2: 27. cf. 1
Pet. 1: 9ff.
R.V.)] - to which our Lord went in the
disembodied state. When, however, He rose in His glorified body He
ascended up to the right hand of God in Heaven itself. Inasmuch, as in all
things, He is our Forerunner, it appears that our disembodied spirits in like
manner pass into the disembodied state and enjoy therein the
blessed sense of the Lord’s presence which pervades it. “Absent from the body, present
with the Lord” (2 Cor.
5. 8).
This
differs, however, from the Roman Catholic Purgatory, inasmuch as Scripture affords no ground for
believing that any such process as purging goes on there. On the Resurrection
morning, when saints are clothed in their glorified bodies, it would appear
they enter Heaven, in the fullest sense, Heaven not being a place for unclothed
spirits, but rather for redeemed spirits [and disembodied souls] clothed with
immortal bodies.
The
conventional Heaven, too, of our earlier hymns and childhood thoughts, where
the principal idea seemed to be that there would be no occupation of any sort
for evermore, has given place to a new concept based on a more careful study of
the prophetic Scriptures.
There
will be, of course, for all a state of perfect bliss, an absence of all sin,
but there will be positions in glory both high and low, and as unlike to each
other as a star of the first magnitude is to one of the twentieth (1 Cor. 15: 41). Gods servants, moreover, shall then serve
Him efficiently and perfectly, for this earth is rather the place of
apprenticeship, where work of various sorts may be learned, to be carried out
in [a restored Earth (Rom. 8: 19-21, R.V.) and in] Eternity in all its fulness throughout the [“new” (Rev. 21: 1, R.V.)] universe.
God the Awarder
The
first point one would wish to emphasize in connection with our subject is that
God is a Rewarder, or, better still, our Awarder. This thought runs through the
whole Bible, and is specially emphasized by Christ Himself: “Take heed that ye do not your
righteousness before men, to be seen of them;
else ye have no reward with your Father which is in
Heaven” (Matt. 6. 1); by the Apostle Paul: “For he that cometh to God must believe that He
is, and that He is a rewarder of them that seek
after Him” (Heb. 11: 6); by the Apostle John: “Behold, I come quickly;
and My reward is with Me, to render to each man according as his work is” (Rev. 22: 12); also by
James and Peter. The essential difference between a rewarder and an awarder is
that the former word carries with it the idea of merit only, whereas an awarder
is a judge who decides not only on merit but demerit. Of
course the word reward is connected with punishment in Scripture: “For if the word spoken
through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience
received a just recompense of reward” (Heb.
2. 2); but our conventional use of it is as I have stated.
In the Bible death itself is spoken of as a reward, or, in other words, as “the wages of sin” (Rom. 6: 23).
As
it is possible there may be some lofty-minded Christians who think the whole
question of rewards for life and service is not worthy of their highest
thoughts, and that the love of virtue itself and of God is the sole
consideration that should be entertained, it may be necessary to point out that
it is very dangerous ground indeed to affect to despise what is so plainly
taught in Scripture. Moreover, if further incentive were needed to value the
rewards that God Himself gives for faithfulness, we have set before us nothing
less than the example of Christ Himself: “Looking unto Jesus the Author and Perfecter of our faith,
who for the joy that was set before Him
endured the Cross, despising shame, and hath sat down at the right hand of the Throne of God”
(Heb. 12:
2).
Award as an Incentive
The
general principle with regard to Christian awards is well stated by the Apostle
Paul: “But thou,
why dost thou judge thy brother? or thou again, why dost thou
set at naught thy brother? for we shall all
stand before the judgment-seat of God. For it is
written, As I live, saith the Lord, to Me every
knee shall bow, and every tongue shall confess
to God. So then each one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14: 10-12). Here we find that although the judgment for
sin is for ever passed for the [regenerate] believer, having been suffered by his Saviour upon
the Cross, there is to be an inquiry into every fact of his
Christian life, when each one with perfect memory, will give an account of
himself, and in which all evil as well as all good will come out. Moreover, the
apostle presents this truth as an incentive for honest and Christian action
now, and this Scripture alone suffices to show the extreme importance for our
subject of this chapter. To get the matter clearly before us we must
understand that this is now the acceptable year of the Lord, the year of grace,
already stretched out into nearly two thousand years. It will be followed by
the day of God, during which three distinct judgments will take place. The first,
that of the saints, which will take place in Heaven,* for judgment must begin
at the House of God (1 Peter 4. 17). Those who are judged then are already in
Heaven and in their glorified bodies, so that there is no question of judgment
of sin, but of their Christian life and character. The second judgment is that
of the living nations upon the earth as recorded in Matthew
25. And the third or last is that of the dead, after the thousand
years of the Millennium are past and gone.
[* NOTE: This
sentence assumes “the resurrection is past already”!
(2 Tim. 2:
18, R.V.); and that God’s judgment of a
Christian’s works, (after death, Heb. 9: 27), is not
necessary for the selection of those “deemed worthy to obtain that age, and
that
resurrection FROM the dead”! (Luke
20: 35. cf. Phil. 3: 11).]
Appearing before the Bema
A
classical passage on the judgment of the saints in Heaven is in 2 Corinthians 5. 10: “For we must all be made manifest before the judgment-seat of
Christ; that each one may receive the things
done in the body, according to what he hath done,
whether it be good or bad”. We must consider this word by word.
“WE,” that is, all individual Christians as such, not
Churches or bodies of Christians collectively. It is now that Churches are
judged, all will be individual then, “each one”. There
will be no wicked there, for this will be a congregation of the righteous: “Therefore the ungodly shall
not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the
congregation of the righteous” (Psa. 1: 5); no book
of life will be opened there [at that time]*, for each one has already entered into life eternal.
[*
That is, before the time of ‘the first resurrection’ (Rev.
20: 6,
R.V.); for ‘book of life’ judgment (verse 15) takes place after “Hades gave up the dead which were in them,” (v. 13), and “when the thousand years are finished”
(v. 7).]
The
word “MUST” is emphatic, and reminds us of the other “musts”
- “must be lifted
up”, “must be born again” - so there is evidently no possible exception on any
conceivable ground.
“ALL” includes both those present in the body and those
absent in the grave at [or before] the
Lord’s coming.
“BE MADE MANIFEST” means “opened”, “exposed”, “turned inside out”,
for this will be true then. “Now we see in a mirror, darkly;
but then face to face: now
I know in part; but then shall I know even as
also I have been known” (1 Cor. 13: 12).
“JUDGMENT-SEAT OF
CHRIST.” Christians have long
sought to minimise this expression in its solemnity and its reality, lest it
conflict with John 5: 24: “Cometh not into judgment” and have tried by parading Greek to obscure its
meaning. “This is not a judgment-seat,” they
say, “but only a ‘Bema’ tribunal whence on a sort of prize day rewards are given
to faithful servants.” But this is only to obscure Scripture. It is true
that the word in the Greek is Bema, but then Bema means “judgment-seat”, and is used in Scripture to describe the
judgment-seats of Pilate, of Caesar, of Herod, of the ‘Son
of Man’ (John 5: 22), as well as of Christ here.
It
does not follow, however, because it is a true judgment-seat that the judgment
of sins takes place there; while, on the other hand, as we shall see, it is far
more than a tribunal for prizes.
Acts now- Awards there
The
passage goes on to say: “EACH ONE”, preserving the intense individuality of the scene. “MAY RECEIVE THE THINGS,” the force of which is, we receive then
what we do now. With regard to good things, we read: “Knowing that whatsoever good
thing each one doeth, the same shall he receive
again from the Lord (or this
exactly shall he render), whether
he be bond or free” (Eph. 6: 8). But we
shall receive the bad also: “For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong
that he hath done: and there is no respect of
persons.” (Col. 3: 25). Both of these passages emphasize the fact
that there is no respect of persons, no consideration to
affect the righteous judgment but that of character itself. Let us
mark well, then, that if Paul in Ephesians clearly
shows that every good thing done by Christians shall receive its reward, in Colossians he equally shows that every wrong
thing that they do shall also receive its award.
It
may be difficult now when still in this world with imperfect and sin-darkened
minds to be able to apprehend the glory of the time when sin in us, as well as
on us, will be for ever done away, when we shall stand body, spirit, soul in
the likeness of our Lord and Saviour and judge in Heaven. And yet it is then we
shall receive the bad we have done on earth, and the form this will take will
be “to suffer
loss”. Without doubt we, having
received from our Saviour all His love can give, will then (in spirit one with
our judge) gladly bow to His righteous award on the failures in our lives.
There will be no fear, but intense solemnity and great humility, and a feeling
of deepest thankfulness that standing then in the perfect light the truth about
each one is seen at last, and all shadows, subterfuges, and falsehood for ever
done away.
“ACCORDING TO WHAT
HE HATH DONE” does not mean,
as some would persuade us, “According to what he hath practised” (that is to
say, a single sin will not be considered, but only repeated sins), for the word
is not in the perfect, which might bear such a meaning, but in the aorist, which distinctly means
according to what he had done “even once”.
“WHETHER IT” refers to the [type of
Christ’s] reward, not to the deeds,
and clinches what we have emphasised, that each one receives the things exactly he has done, whether the reward
“BE GOOD OR BAD.” In other words, there is no flinching there from
a bad award, and it will be as real, as true, and as emphatic
as a good reward. The object, of course, of this final judgment [after
death (Heb. 9:
27) and before Resurrection, is not only to
establish the truth, and to enable each one to know how far in his Christian
life he has really lived honestly and pleased God, or dishonestly and
displeased God, but is in view of future position and service in [the coming Messianic and Millennial Kingdom, and in] Heaven. Let me point out once more before leaving this
solemn subject that it is only when faith is changed to sight, and we have
actually received all that grace has to give, that our place in [millennial]* glory is determined by the character of
our lives and actions.
[*Habakkuk
2:
14; Isaiah 40:
5, R.V.]
Relation of Conduct with Destiny
There
can be no doubt whatever that it is our Christian life and faithfulness now
that is making or marring our position in [“the age to come” (Heb. 6: 5, R.V.) and in] Eternity, and that [the
result and outcome of] this
judgment scene takes place at our entrance into
Heaven, in order that at once we may be assigned the positions there which we
have made for ourselves here. Grace has been so exalted in these days at the expense
of works as to lead to much practical anti-nomianism and carelessness and dishonesty of life.
The
relations of conduct with destiny are too clearly marked for us to neglect
them, and the consideration of this one verse should in itself be of sufficient
power to make us lead different and better lives as long as we are spared to do
so. The judgment-seat of Christ with
respect to Christian Churches, as opposed to that of individuals, is seen in Revelation 2: 3,
and may well give us some insight into what the judgment of individuals
hereafter will be like.
(To be continued, D.V.)
*
* * *
* * *
715
GLORIOUS
GRACE
By R. L. LACEY.
“Lest I should be over-elated there has been sent to me, like the agony of impalement, Satan’s angel dealing blow after blow, lest I should be over-elated. Three times have I besought the Lord to rid me of him; but His reply has been, ‘My
Grace suffices for you, for power matures in
weakness.’ Most gladly, therefore, will I boast of my
infirmities rather than complain of them - in
order that Christ’s power may overshadow me.” (
I
While being entertained at the home of a friend in
But
the doctors replaced the flesh upon his face which had been destroyed. After
several weeks in hospital, his head completely covered with bandages, one day
he called the Nurse and declared they must be removed as he could not possibly
bear the darkness any longer. Then for the first time he learned that
henceforth life was to be one long night for him, for he would never see any
more. Meanwhile the Holy Scriptures had become his delight, and his chief
trouble was that no longer would he be able to see to read them. Then one day
he heard the story of a woman in England who had learned to read with her lips,
and he was thrilled by the vision it conjured up for him. Some friends sent for
the Moon raised-type system for him, and he could hardly wait until the books
arrived. Alas, he had not taken into consideration the fact that in the
explosion his face had been so injured that the nerves of his lips were gone,
and there was no sense of touch there. As he wept over his Bible, his tongue touched
and rested on one of the raised letters, and he said to himself, I wonder if it
would be possible for me to make out the raised characters with my tongue,
which seems to be quite sensitive. He called for his teacher and - wonder of
wonders - in a short while he was able to read the Lord’s Prayer with his
tongue. And the New Testament after that. ‘I have read
the whole Bible through four times,’ he said, ‘and
many of the books of the Bible over and over again.’
Do
we love God’s Word like that? Would it break our hearts if we couldn’t read it?
‘As I left that home that day,’ writes the narrator, ‘I said to myself: What a man and - what a GOD! Yes, His grace was sufficient for
the unusual physical and spiritual needs of my Scotch friend.’
‘HIS reply has been, My Grace suffices for YOU.’
II
A little paper
from
‘On my arrival from
‘There has been sent to me,
like the agony of impalement, Satan’s angel dealing blow after blow. I have
besought the Lord to rid me of him; but His reply has been, ‘My Grace suffices for you, for power matures
in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore, will I boast of my
infirmities rather than complain of them, in order that Christ’s power may
overshadow me.’
III
In one more true transcript from life - perhaps not the
least impressive - let me endeavour to illustrate the marvellous truth of this
Glorious Grace of our Lord’s as it continues to manifest itself in the lives of
His disciples afflicted with all manner of most pathetic disabilities.
At
a time when, in response to a fresh enduement of a spirit of prayer which he
had received, and when many were turning to God from among the Telegus in India, an English Missionary was suddenly
stricken in the midst of his labours, and at last had to return home. For
fifteen years he has been dying of leprosy, cut off from his loved ones and
fellow-workers. In this condition he wrote the following letter to a friend
from whom he had recently heard:
“It is about fifteen years since I last saw you, so I
appreciate your letter all the more. I have had a heavy cross to carry, but I
am glad to tell you that His Grace has been sufficient for me at every step of
the way. At first I was somewhat rebellious, for I had great plans for the
future. Many souls were turning to
the Lord in all parts of the Field, and I looked forward to the time when I
should have the privilege of baptising thousands.
“I had said, ‘Lord, let me be
Thy servant, filled with Thy Spirit, giving all my thought, all my energy, and
‘my life for Thee.’ And He answered me. But instead of letting me serve Him as
I had planned to do, He suddenly took me away from the work for ever. As I lay
in the Hospital in
“You ask how I am. I have
lost my eyesight now, and my voice; I have no feet or ankles; no arms; but my
heart is far from dead. I still feel, and long and sympathize. I still yearn for the extension of Christ’s Kingdom on earth as much as
ever I did. I cannot read or write, but the kind Sisters in charge
of the Hospital come to read to me, and write for me, as I can find means to
dictate to them. I have everything I need, and could not be more comfortable
were I in my home. While I live I expect to prepare others for
“I know you will remember me
in your prayers, that I mat be humble and patient, and faithful to the end. I
have no doubts in these days, and If I had my voice I should be singing all the
day long. Sometimes I feel so happy that I long to go to my heavenly home and
be with ‘my Beloved’ for ever.
“May the God of all comfort,
comfort you, and grant you His Grace filling you with the sunshine of His
presence so that day by day you will be transformed into His likeness from
glory to glory, is the prayer of your brother in Christ’s Kingdom.”
Was ever a more impressive seal set on these words of
Holy Scripture we are considering?
IV
Suddenly deprive of the most precious gift of sight, George Matheson wrote these immortal
words:-
Make me a captive Lord,
And then I shall be free;
Force me to
render up my sword.
And I shall
conqueror be.
I sink in life’s alarms
When by
myself I stand;
Imprison me within Thine arms,
And strong shall be my hand.
My heart is weak and poor
Until its master find:
It has no spring of action sure -
It varies with the wind:
It cannot freely move
Till Thou
hast wrought its chain;
Enslave it with Thy matchless love
And deathless it shall reign.
My will is
not my own
Till Thou
hast made it Thine;
If it would
reach the Monarch’s throne
It must its
crown resign:
It only stands unbent
Amid the clashing strife
When on Thy bosom it has leant,
And found in Thee its life.
In conjunction with the inspired words of our text, I
submit to you these beautiful verses of George Matheson discover to us the
great secret of the power of endurance and really great truths from the actual
lives lived upon the earth by some of our Lord’s disciples we have shared
together.
In view of the facts they bring to our knowledge, have
you and I anything to complain about?
Should we ever complain again about anything?
Far bigger trials and sorrows may be ahead than
anything we have yet known - but by
this word we shall conquer:
“Lest I should be over-elated
there has been sent to me, like the agony of
impalement, Satan’s angel dealing blow after
blow, lest I should be over-elated.
Three times have I besought the Lord to did
me of him; but
his reply has been ‘My grace suffices for you,
for power matures in weakness.’ Most gladly therefore will I boast of my infirmities rather than complain of them - in order that Christ’s power may overshadow me.”
O the GLORIOUS
GRACE of our GLORIOUS GOD!
*
* * *
* * *
716
SUGGESTIVE
STUDIES IN ISAIAH
By H. A.
WOOLLEY
Like the great Book of which it forms a part, Isaiah is a mine of wealth to all seekers of the Truth.
God’s thoughts about things are therein revealed. God’s purposes and plans for
Jew and Gentile are therein made known. Sin, and the precious sin-Bearer, are
set forth repeatedly, and wonderful forecasts of that which shall be hereafter
are given. Full of the wonders of the Lord, and abounding in God-given
revelations, Isaiah is a book to be gone over again and again.
Yet
it has not received the attention it so richly deserves. In common with certain
other Old Testament portions it is, methinks, largely neglected. To many it
consists of a single chapter - the 53rd. so
dearly beloved by every child of God, yet but one among the many beautiful gems
sparkling from Isaiah’s pages. Some may tell us of the sixth
chapter with its wonderful vision of God, sin, grace, and opportunity -
and there their knowledge ends. Others can point to isolated verses here and
there, which have been a source of comfort and strength to them; whilst not a
few preachers will admit they have oft extracted phrases or verses for use as
Gospel texts.
To
all such the real scope and contents of
Isaiah are entirely unknown. And how much they miss! For if properly
studied this book will be a veritable revelation to those who perchance for the
first time are led quietly to ponder it page by page.
Not
only will a clearer insight into God’s ways result, and fresh light be thrown
on other parts of Scripture, but valuable spiritual lessons for individual
growth and profit will become apparent to the prayerful reader ready to receive
Divine principles into heart and mind.
Let
us then in humble dependence on the Holy
Spirit for guidance and help,
look first at the general construction of the book, and then briefly indicate a
few suggestive lines of thought, any or all of which if carefully followed out
cannot fail to produce lasting blessing. Perhaps also our present study may
lead to other little known portions of God’s Word being explored and more
widely opened up.
ANALYSIS
Isaiah falls into two main divisions. One has judgment
for its chief theme - the other, grace. The latter can be sub-divided into
three smaller sections of nine chapters each, all of which end in similar
strain. Thus -
1. Chapters 1 to 39 (Judgment).
2. Chapters 40-66 (Grace).
(1) 40-48.
(2) 49-57 (The central chapter of this middle section is
the unique “53rd.).
(3) 58-66
Between
Isaiah and the Bible a close resemblance exists. Isaiah
has 66 chapters - the Bible 66 “books.” Isaiah
is in two parts - the Bible is composed of Old and New Testaments. Thirty-nine
books go to make up the Old Testament - the 1st. Division of Isaiah
has 39 chapters. Isaiah’s 2nd.Division has 27 chapters - so the New
Testament has 27 books. Again, Isaiah is like unto the Bible in its wide range
of vision. We hear the Creator’s voice, and also the same One proclaiming
Himself “the
first and the last.” In a sense
far-seeing Isaiah seems to range from Genesis
to Revelation. Creation - Redemption -
Regeneration.
We
cannot be reminded too often that the Lord Jesus Christ is the key to the
Bible. Hence in all reading the foremost thought should be - how is Christ
presented here in this particular portion?
Our
first short study then, is necessarily -
CHRIST IN ISAIAH
Many
names are given to the Redeemer in Isaiah, and in keeping with the character of
its contents these are almost invariably linked to
He
is the King
(chap. 6.),
your King (chap. 43.),
King of Israel (chap. 44.) and the Mighty One of Jacob in chapter 60. Immanuel (chaps.
7 and 8.)
is another name, and chapter 9, verse 6 gives us a beautiful cluster of names. Then
He is called the
Mighty One of
But
throughout the entire book there runs another name to which special attention
is asked, the writer during recent study having been greatly struck with its
frequent usage, force, and significance. This name is THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. It occurs in
both the “judgment” and “grace” sections.
We find it in almost the opening words of the 1st
chapter verse 4. Again in chapters 5
(twice mentioned), 10, 12, 17, 29, 30, 31, 37: 40, 41, and 43 (thrice mentioned), 45,
47, 48, 49, 54, 55, 60 - some
27 distinct times in all is the Holy One of Israel referred to, to which might
be added the same thought slightly varied in chapter
10: 17 “His
Holy One,” “the Holy One of Jacob,” (chap. 29), and the One “whose
name is Holy” (chap. 57) -
making a total of thirty references to the holiness of God, and arresting our
attention over and again as our eyes fasten on this title. The Holy One of
Israel, who says both to His earthly people and to His heavenly
saints: “Be ye holy, for I am holy, saith the Lord.” It is good to ever have in mind the holiness of our
Saviour-God, here so strikingly enforced, and reiterated.
IN THAT DAY
Our
second study springs out of another of Isaiah’s oft repeated phrases. “In that day” occurs in
nearly every chapter of the “judgment” section, as might be expected, for the
“day” referred to so
frequently is the day of the Lord, a day of darkness, sorrow, and judgment for
the ungodly - a day of happy deliverance for the faithful remnant. Much
will happen “in that
day.” Idols will be
abolished, and the Lord alone exalted (see chaps.
2. and 31.).
The Branch of the Lord will be
beautiful and glorious (chap. 4.), My Servant
exalted (chap. 22.),
and the Lord of hosts shall be for a crown
of glory (chap. 28.).
As to mankind, many are slain (for it is the
day of the Lord’s vengeance - see verse 8 of
chapter 34, the key-verse to this subject),
but scattered Israel is gathered, the persecuted remnant in the land are
delivered from their great oppressor (whereupon praise breaks forth as at
the Red sea: “Then
sang -“ chapters 12. and 27); and nations
are blest (chaps. 11:
10; 19, 24: 25.). The deaf will hear and the blind see (chap. 29.), and
cattle shall feed in large pastures (chap. 30.). It
is a day of terrible judgment, followed by
great blessings. And closely
connected with “that day” is
ANTICHRIST IN ISAIAH
And
here we must tread softly, for we enter a sphere where we shall most likely be
accused of saying either too much or too little! Nevertheless, the subject is
so important in these “last days,” so essential to a right understanding of prophecy and
those future events with which Isaiah so largely deals, and withal so full of
meaning to those who can accept it, that we cannot refrain from touching upon
this intensely interesting subject.
Two
persons are seen at work all through Holy Scripture - God and Satan. And these
are always opposed to one another. God, through Christ, is ever seeking the
true good of mankind, Satan (personally or through others) ever opposes and
tries to thwart God’s plans. Satan is a great imitator. If God has his Man - the Man Christ Jesus - Satan will yet
produce his - the Antichrist! If God
appoints a city (Jerusalem) as a centre for His [Christ’s] worship - the city of the great King, Satan intends to have his big central, commercial
city also (Babylon), wherein to set
his king, to whom he will give the kingdoms of
this world. So Antichrist is
the full development of evil - the climax of Satanic enmity to God.*
[* And the
great Deceiver of all Ati-millennialist
Christians!]
One
is tempted to speak of Nimrod, the beginning of whose kingdom was Babel; to say
something of Nebuchadnezzar (a partial type
of Antichrist) and the great Babylon he built and boasted of; and to speak of
future
Nor
need we. For here we have a surprising array of facts concerning “things to come,” which if collected and grouped will surely invest Isaiah (and other
prophets) with a new interest and meaning.
Please
note in considering the following - and we stress this point - how fully all is bound up with “the day of the Lord,” “that day,” and the promised future restoration of
(Note - In Isaiah, as in other parts of Scripture,
happenings are not consecutive: there is often a reversion - in fuller detail -
to that which has already been mentioned).
ISAIAH
Chapter 10. introduces the
Assyrian (verses 5, 6) - the king of Assyria (verse
12) a haughty monarch of “stout heart” and “high looks,” whose purpose is to destroy and cut off nations not a
few, and who smites after promising
protection (verses 7 and 20-23). But the
“indignation”
shall cease, the oppressor’s yoke be removed and destroyed. Indeed,
Antichrist’s raging thrust at
Chapter 11. presents earth’s Rightful Sovereign who shall slay the wicked, praise following in chapter 12.
Chapter 13. The burden of
Chapter 14., verse 3 and 4 show the Assyrian to be the
king of
Chapter 19, verse 4 (An earlier event)
Chapter 21.: Evil tidings - “
In
Chapters 24: verse 21 and 22 and in Chapter 27, we have Satan and his host overthrown, and the kings
of the earth punished.
Chapter 28. has a reference to “the
covenant with hell [i.e., Heb. ‘Sheol’
R.V. = ‘Hades’
Sept. (LXX)] (connected with Antichrist)
in verses 15 and 18.
Chapter 30. “The Assyrian” beaten
down through the voice of the Lord verses 27-33.
Chapter 31: verses 8 and 9 speak again of his downfall: his stronghold is
mentioned to which he now goes in fear, his princes being afraid of the “ensign.” (We believe there is more in the word “ensign” - referred to several times - than appears on
the surface).
Chapter 43:
Chapter 47. reverts to Babylon‑the object of God’s wrath,
and sudden destruction. (There is, however, a warning ere the
city falls - an opportunity of escape for some: see chapter
48: 14, 20).
Chapter 51. Where is the fury of the oppressor? (verse 13).
Chapter 57: 9, the
false king; and Chapter 66. - the end of the transgressors.
Just
a fragment of a great whole has been given, but the reader can follow the line
out at leisure, comparing what has been advanced with other parts of Scripture.
To
all who have understanding to discern the times is a final word added: Watch
developments in
And
does there not come to us as we peep into the future, and see Satan’s idea
of a world without
God - with peace and safety (both unstable
yet at first seemingly real), prosperity and pleasure for all - taking
shape before our eyes - does there
not come a still small voice asking what
manner of persons we (professed) pilgrims and strangers in a Christ-rejecting
scene ought to be!
THE SPIRIT OF THE LORD in Isaiah
would form another profitable study, chaps. 11., 41., 59., 61., and 63 being
looked at in this connection.
For the sake of young believers it might be well to
add that “everlasting burnings
and devouring fire” in chapter 33. (verse 14 and 15)
refer, we believe, not to hell, but to our God who is a consuming fire. Also verses 1-6 of chapter 63, allude not to Calvary, but to Christ’s personal punishment of
And now in closing may I repeat what I have already
written?
Like
the great Book of which it forms a part, Isaiah is a mine of wealth to all seekers of the
truth. God’s thoughts about things are therein revealed. God’s purposes and
plans for Jew and Gentile are therein made known. Sin, and the precious
sin-Bearer are set forth repeatedly, and
wonderful forecasts of that which shall be hereafter are given. Let us
then give to it the attention it so richly deserves
*
* * *
* * *
717
SOTEROLOGY
AND THE FUTURE
SALVATION OF
THE SOUL
By ARLEN L.
CHITWOOD
[PART ONE]
-------
Christians talk about soul-winning in connection with
the unsaved. And soul-winning conferences are held with this same end in view.
But this is not the way Scripture deals with soul-winning at
all.
Soul-winning, as seen in Scripture, has to do with
reaching those who already possess
eternal life (those who have a redeemed spirit, those who have “passed from death unto life”), not with reaching those who are “dead in trespasses and sins.” Soul-winning, rather than having to do with the free
gift of eternal life, has to do with the
faithfulness of the saved (resulting in works), ‘a just recompense of reward’ [see
Col. 3: 24], and life in
the coming [millennial ‘age’ (see Rev. 20: 4, 5.
cf. Lk. 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11), and]
Soul-winning is reaching [all
who are regenerate, - not nominal] Christians with ‘the Word of the Kingdom’ [Matt. 13: 19, R.V.], reaching
those who have already believed on the Lord Jesus Christ with the message
concerning the purpose for their salvation.
*
* *
SALVATION -
PAST, PRESENT, FUTURE
For by grace are ye saved [lit. ‘you have been saved’]
through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Not of works, lest any man should boast (Eph. 2: 8, 9).
For the preaching of the cross
is to them that perish [lit. ‘to the ones perishing’] foolishness; but
unto us which are saved [lit. ‘who are being
saved’] it
is the power of God (1 Cor. 1: 18).
Are they [angels] not all ministering spirits, sent
forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of [lit. ‘for the sake of the ones about to inherit’] salvation (Heb. 1: 14)?
Salvation
in the Word of God is spoken of in three tenses: past, present, and future. Christians have been saved;
Christians are being saved; and Christians are
about to be saved. The previously
quoted verses provide examples of how Scripture deals with these three aspects
of salvation. In Eph. 2: 8, 9 salvation is a past, completed act; 1 Cor. 1: 18 salvation
is a present, continuous work; and in Heb. 1: 14 salvation
is a future, inherited possession. Since the
Word of God presents salvation in a framework of this nature, it is vitally
important in Scriptural interpretation to first ascertain to which of these
three any given passage pertains.
In
Eph. 2: 8 the words in the corrected text, “you have been saved,” are a translation of two Greek words which form what
is called in the Greek text a “periphrastic perfect.”
The “perfect” tense refers to an act completed in past time with the results of this act
extending into the present and existing in a finished state. The “periphrastic” construction places additional emphasis
on the present, finished state and
refers to the persistent
results in present
time of the past, completed work.
Salvation in this verse is wrought by
grace through faith, accomplished completely in past time, and is the present possession of
every [regenerate] believer.
This present possession, in turn, constitutes an active, continuing,
ever-abiding salvation. The eternal security of the believer cannot be
expressed in stronger terms than the periphrastic construction of the perfect
tense in Eph.
2: 8,
for the present results of the past action, in this case, must continue
forever.
1 Cor. 1: 18, however, presents things concerning salvation which
are entirely different than what is presented in Eph. 2:
8. Rather than the tense in the Greek text
referring to a past, completed act, the tense refers to a present, continuous
work. The former has already been completed, and the latter has yet to be
completed. Then in Heb. 1: 14, the
wording in the Greek text refers to something which is about to occur. Nothing
is past or present; the reception of this salvation is placed, in its entirety,
in the future. Thus, one can immediately see that insurmountable
problems will arise if distinctions are not carefully drawn between past,
present, and future aspects of salvation.
The
salvation referred to in Heb. 1: 14 is not
only to be realized in the future,* but it is also an inherited salvation. This fact further distinguishes between the
salvation Christians are about to receive and the salvation Christians have
already received, for the salvation which we presently possess is not inherited.
Our present salvation was
obtained as a free gift during the time we were alienated from God. We, as aliens, were in no position to
inherit salvation, for we were completely outside the family of God.
In
the Scriptural framework, inheritance is always a family matter. In the Old
Testament, “sons” were first in line to receive the inheritance, with “daughters” next. If there were no sons or daughters in
the immediate family, the inheritance passed to the nearest family member or
members designated by the law of inheritance (Num.
27: 8-11).
In
the New Testament, however, family members outside of “sons”
are not in view, for there will be many “sons” when the
inheritance is received. Consequently, an individual must first be a “child” of the Owner before he can be considered for the
[future] inheritance:
“If children, then heirs...” Then, before
the inheritance is received, the
adoption must occur, placing the
individual in the position of a “son” (Rom. 8: 17-23, Gal. 4: 1-7).
Understanding
salvation past, present, and future is a necessary key to understanding our present position “in Christ” relative to the inheritance “reserved in heaven” for the
faithful. The complete scope of salvation involves the Spirit of God
performing a present work in Christians, based on a past, completed work, in view of an inheritance to be realized in the future.
THE
TRIPARTITE NATURE OF MAN
“And the very God of peace
sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul
and body
be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Thess.
5: 23).
Man
is a tripartite being comprised of spirit, soul, and body; and the salvation of
man within its complete scope (past, present, and future) concerns the salvation
of man’s complete entity. In the study of Scripture it is revealed that each of these three parts of man is subject
to salvation at different times. Thus, to understand salvation in its
complete scope, one must first understand certain things about man’s tripartite
nature. Salvation in relation to this tripartite nature then becomes the issue.
In
the first chapter of Genesis we learn that
man was created in the “image” and “likeness” of God. The word translated “God” in the Hebrew text is Elohim. This is a plural noun, which indicates three or more; and
we know from revelation pertaining to the Godhead that Elohim refers to three
and no more - God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. Since Elohim
is a trinity, for man to be created in the “image” and “likeness” of God, he too must be a trinity. Unlike the
dichotomic animal kingdom (created outside the “image” and “likeness” of God) possessing only bodies and souls, trichotomic
man created in the “image” and “likeness” of God) possesses body, soul, and spirit.
Jesus
is Elohim
manifested in the flesh; and having been made in the “likeness” of man (but apart from man’s fallen nature), He, as
man, must also be a trinity (John 1: 14; Phil. 2: 7). This
tripartite nature of Christ, in Whom “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Col. 2: 9), was clearly revealed at the time of His death. At this time Jesus yielded
up His [animating] spirit, which went back into the presence of His
Father in heaven (Luke 23: 46; cf. Eccl. 12: 7; Acts 7: 59); His [disembodied] soul went into Hades, the place of the dead in the
centre of the earth (Acts 2: 27); and His
body was removed from the Cross and placed in Joseph of Arimathea’s tomb (Matt. 27: 57-61). This separation persisted until the soul and
spirit re-entered the body at the time our Lord was raised from the dead.
Thus,
Elohim is a trinity; Jesus, Elohim manifested in the flesh, is likewise a
trinity; man, created in the “image” and “likeness” of Elohim, is also a trinity; and a complete redemption provided
by the triune God must, of necessity, pertain
to man as a complete being. Man’s complete redemption must encompass spirit, soul,
and body.
1. PAST,
PRESENT, FUTURE ... SPIRIT, SOUL, BODY
When
man sinned in the garden in
As
soon as the fall occurred, man lost the covering of pristine glory which had
previously clothed his body, and he, for the first time, found himself
separated from God. He tried to replace this covering with fig leaf aprons; and
then, apparently realizing the inadequacy of a covering made by his own hands,
he, in his fallen state, sought to hide from God. God, finding man in this
condition, completely rejected man’s efforts to provide a covering for his sin,
i.e., man’s feeble efforts to atone for his own sin. Then, to bring man back
into a right relationship (although not his previously unfallen state -
something still future even today), God provided a covering consisting of
animal skins (Gen. 3:
21). This necessitated the shedding of
blood; and herein lie basic, unchangeable truths concerning the state of fallen
man and the means which are necessary to effect his redemption.
A) SPIRIT
Man’s
sin in the garden in
The
spirit nature is that part of man which links him directly with God. “God is spirit,” and man’s worship of God must be “in spirit and in truth” (John 4: 24). The death of Adam’s spirit separated him from
God, and this death “passed upon all men” (Rom. 5: 12). Scripture speaks of an unsaved person as
being “dead in
trespasses and sins” (Eph. 2: 1). With an unredeemed, inanimate spirit, he is
alienated from God (Eph. 2: 12); but
once the person has been saved, he is then spoken of as having passed “from death unto life” (John 5: 24). This aspect of salvation is effected through
the birth from above, and once accomplished, it is completely passive. The [eternal] salvation
experience which man enters into at the time of the birth from above is a
spiritual birth: “... that which is born of the Spirit is spirit” (John 3: 6b).
B) SOUL
The
salvation of the soul, on the other hand, must never be associated with the
passive aspect of salvation. Scripture carefully distinguishes between the soul
and the spirit, never using the words interchangeably (cf. 1 Thess. 5: 23; Heb. 4: 12). Scripture also carefully distinguishes
between a past, completed work of salvation, which pertains to the spirit, and
a present (to be completed in the future) work of salvation, which pertains to
the soul. Man’s reception of the salvation of his soul is never spoken of as
being passive, but always future:
“Receiving the end of
your faith, even the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1: 9).
“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of
naughtiness, and receive with meekness the
engrafted word, which is able to save your souls” (James
1: 21).
“But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition [destruction]; but of them that believe [are faithful] to the saving of the soul” (Heb. 10: 39).
The
statements and exhortations in these verses pertain to [regenerate] Christians alone - those whose spirits have already
been saved and whose souls are in the process of being saved.
C) BODY
The
salvation of the body presents very little problem for the majority of
Christians. Very few contend, contrary to Scripture, that the body has either
already been redeemed or is in the process of being redeemed. Scripture places
the redemption of man’s body entirely in the future (Rom.
8: 23).
The
Christian’s body is presently in a continuous state of deterioration. The body
grows old and weakens with time, and the body is subject to sickness, disease,
and eventually death. This must ever remain the case so long as the body
remains unredeemed. The “wages of sin is death” (Rom.
6: 23), and the
unredeemed body must pay the price which sin requires.
Within
this unredeemed body lie two opposing entities, each seeking dominion - a
redeemed spirit, and an unredeemed [body and] soul. The unredeemed soul is housed in an unredeemed
body, and the two are mutually compatible. But the redeemed spirit housed
alongside an unredeemed soul in an unredeemed body experiences no compatibility
at all. Compatibility is not possible, for “what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness?
And what communion hath light with darkness?” (2 Cor. 6: 14). This heterogeneous union is what produced the cry of
the Apostle Paul in Rom. 7: 24, “O wretched man that
I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this
death?” …
(To be continued, D.V.)
*
* * *
* * *
718
A BIBLE STUDY COURSE
ON
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
By ALFRED
THOMPSON EADE, S.T. D.
-------
A Study of
the Glory and Greatness of the
A leading newspaper recently carried a cartoon
depicting a poor old troubled world with an ice pack on its throbbing head, a
thermometer between its drooping lips, its tired feet soaking in an old
fashioned foot bath., one could almost see the cold, clammy sweat of death upon
its deeply furrowed brow. The caption beneath the picture read “A Sick World.” The editorial that followed
was a desperate attempt to summarize the world’s multiplied sorrows:
conflicting ideologies; frightening fears of nuclear war; bold and bloody
aggression; race hatred; class hatred; persecution and fanatical intolerance;
crime and violence: famine, flood, and pestilence. In conclusion, the writer
threw up his hands in despair and declared in big, bold, black type: We Are Living in a Sick World.
This
frustrated newsman is not alone in his sober appraisal of world affairs, for no
intelligent person would think of disputing his diagnosis. We are, indeed,
living in “a
sick world” (Greek, cosmos -
“world order or
system of human affairs”), but
like a thousand others who have their fingers on the pulse of human behaviour,
the editorialist did not attempt to name the nature of the deadly sickness that
has engulfed the world. Everyone, it seems, has a different conviction as to
the cause of the multiplied sorrows of a dying and utterly hopeless world
system.
When
we put the one and only reliable stethoscope - Truth - to the heart of the sick
and dying world we find that far removed from conflicting ideologies, racial
and political issues, spiritual sickness
is the deep-rooted malady that has brought the world to the brink of moral
suicide and utter corruption in every passing civilization, and the remedy is
as far removed from politics, policies, and plans of men as earth is removed
from heaven.
Every
hospital, clinic and sanatorium throughout the land stands in undeniable
testimony of physical sickness
- the “death process” of disease and decay ever
at work in Adam’s fallen race (Gen. 3: 19). Every insane asylum and institution for the mentally ill stands in
pathetic testimony of sickness of the mind. Every prison, penitentiary
and death house tells the grim story of sickness of the soul. Every cemetery, with its gaping graves awaiting the
never-ending funeral procession, stands the mute evidence of the inevitable
power and presence of death, the last enemy of man. In the light of such
familiar evidence the truth is conclusive - we are living in a sick world and
the sickness is unto death (1 Cor.
15: 26).
Of
far greater concern than the age-old cycle of radical and physical sorrows is
the moral and spiritual sickness that engulfs the world. The cosmos
(the world of men in which we live) has lost its sense of direction; it is out
of touch and out of tune with the Creator and Sustainer of all things - He who
not only has the answer but is the answer to all the sorrows of
earth and of the ages. As the heavenly bodies revolve around the sun in orderly
precision and harmony because the natural law and order of the solar system is
contingent upon the sun being in its rightful, central position - so it is when
God has His rightful place in the hearts of men and in the affairs of nations.
Then, and only then, can there be peace and purity of purpose in the earth, and
all of the beneficent blessings that God purposed when He created man in His
own image and likeness.
THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY
OF THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
A better
understanding of the nature and limitless scope of the
In the opening chapters of the Revelation of Jesus
Christ (the Apocalypse) the threefold nature of His office is spoken of not
conjointly (that is, not as one combined ministry or mission) but as fulfilled
successively by Him “… which is, and which was,
and which is to come” (Rev.
1: 8). As Prophet, He Was, in fulfilment of the declaration of
Moses, “The Lord
thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee [
[*
NOTE: Keep in mind, the “Church” consists of all those whom the Holy Spirit has
called out of the world (cosmos); but “his wife” consists of all those, whose standard of personal
righteousness has qualified them for selection (at the Judgment Seat of Christ),
from amongst the regenerate members of His “Church”!
“… And to her was granted that she should be arrayed in
fine linen, …
for the fine linen is [represents] the righteousness of saints”
(Rev. 19:
8. cf. Matt. 5: 20) - all
those whom Christ will select out of the regenerate and redeemed members
in His “Church”! There will be a selection from within a previous
selection! See also Luke 20: 35; Phil. 3: 11; Rev. 2: 24-29; 3: 5, 6, 10, 21, 22; 20: 4-6, R.V. etc.]
As Priest, He is. In the Old Testament the
priestly office of Christ was foreshadowed in types. Particularly in the
blood offering and in the ritual of priestly mediation. The Person of Christ, however, was foreshadowed in a priest, “Melchizedek king of
As King, He is yet to
come. As the kingship of Jesus is the paramount theme of our
study it will suffice to conclude the brief summary of the threefold office of
Prophet, Priest, and King by declaring that the whole kingdom expectation
embraces the major portion of prophetic revelation. The prophets of God, in all
ages, have foreseen and foretold of the ultimate establishment of he Kingdom of
God in visible glory upon he earth, and of the universal triumph of
Righteousness; when “this same Jesus”
who was rejected, crucified, raised from the dead and who ascended into heaven
shall return in power and with great glory to reign as Earth’s rightful and
righteous King. The regal theme of Christ as the coming King runs as a thread
of purple throughout the historical and prophetical panorama of Bible
revelation from the first divine prediction (Gen.
3: 15),
to the last promise and prayer of God’s Holy Word (Rev.
22: 20).
THE NEW “PANORAMA” BIBLE STUDIES
Panorama No. 1 is designed to help the
student visualize “The Plan of the Ages,” the entire course of Bible history and
revelation in the light f Dispensational Truth.
Panorama No. 2, “The Study of Angelology,” traces the course of the ministry of Angels from their creation to
the future Eternal Ages. This Study includes the origin, rebellion, fall, and
final destiny of Satan and his Angels. A study of great importance, for many
are ignorant of the truth that Angels and Demons, the two vast hosts of unseen
spirit beings, are constantly and actively concerned in the affairs of God’s
people and in the affairs of the present world system.
Panorama No. 3, “The Second Coming of Christ,” is a visual aid to the study of the progressive unfolding of Bible
revelation concerning the greatness and the glory of the
The EXPANDED Panorama Bible Study (in cloth-backed book form) gives the full text of
God’s immutable Plan and Purpose of the Ages, with a special feature of
Dispensational Charts, particularly welcomed by teachers of premillennial Bible
Truth.
J. B. Phillips wrote a thought-provoking book entitled Your God Is Too Small. It is my conviction that our concept of the Kingdom of God suffers
the same diminutive vision, occupying, as it does, so vast a body of Scripture;
sooner or later in our study, it must be recognized as the great all-inclusive
theme of Bible revelation. For lack of study, vision, or instruction many
sincere believers limit the nature, the breath-taking vastness, the eternal
greatness of the Kingdom of God while resting and rejoicing in the glorious
prospect of living and reigning with Christ a thousand years - the coming
millennium of righteousness and rest from the ravages of war, greed, and
tyranny on earth, while overlooking the far more glorious prospect of the
eternal totality (wholeness) of God’s Kingdom Program.
While it is true that in the Apocalypse the Apostle
John speaks six times of “a thousand years”
in relation to the literal reign of Christ on [this restored (Rom. 8: 19-21)] earth; in the
same vision, great voices in heaven are heard declaring, “he shall reign for ever and
ever” (Rev. 11:
15).
There cannot be an eternal kingdom without an eternal king; thus, we must
endeavour to keep in view the basic concept of the universal and Eternal Kingdom, which was and is and ever shall be
an ever-present reality, whose sovereign ruler “worketh all things after the counsel of his
own will” (Eph. 1: 11). “The Lord is King for ever and ever…” (Ps. 10: 16) by
virtue of His absolute sovereignty over all visible and invisible creation.
Against this primary and changeless
background the dispensational Bible history, may be more clearly interpreted
and the abundant array of [both Old and New Testament] predictions and prophecies point clearly to a kingdom which is yet
future: a Mediatorial Kingdom to be established, literally, upon the earth; a
Kingdom with a historic beginning (The Second Coming of Christ); and a
climactic ending (as to its earthward purpose: 1 Cor. 15: 24-28). Then, the coming millennial Kingdom of the
Lord Jesus Christ is rightly seen. Not
as an end unto itself but as an historical, dispensational aspect, or episode,
of the Everlasting Kingdom of God.
(Continued below)
*
* * *
* * *
719
THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST
THE UNIVERSAL
AND ETERNAL
By ALFRED THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY NO. 1]
-------
It is of great importance that we begin our study of
the
Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst
formed the earth
and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God (Ps. 90: 2).
… he is the living
God, and an everlasting king ... (Jer. 10: 10).
The Lord reigneth, he is clothed with majesty. ...
Thy throne is established of old: thou art from
everlasting (Ps. 93: 1-2).
The Lord is King for ever and ever … (Ps. 10: 16).
Thine, O Lord, is the greatness, and the
power, and the glory, and the victory,
and the majesty: for all that is in the
heaven and in the earth is thine;
thine is the kingdom, O Lord … (1 Chron. 29: 11).
But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and
ever;
a sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of
thy kingdom (Heb. 1: 8).
In these and other
revealing passages of Scripture we see the everlasting and universal rule of
the Eternal King. Surely the glory and greatness of such a Kingdom is
commensurate with the majesty of the One who is from everlasting to
everlasting. Past, present, and future are one with the Eternal King and herein
lies the key to our understanding of a Kingdom which antedates recorded history
and reaches throughout and beyond the limitations of Time
into future and Eternal Ages.
The revelation of Jehovah as an everlasting King
presupposes an everlasting Kingdom; as the Psalmist declared, “Thy throne is established of
old. ...”
The LORD hath prepared his throne in the
heavens; and his
kingdom ruleth over all. ...
all his works in all places of his dominion (Ps. 103: 19, 22).
Whatsoever the LORD pleased, that did he in
heaven, and in earth
... (Ps.135:
6).
... and he doeth
according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the
inhabitants
of the earth: and none can stay
his hand, or say unto him,
What doest thou? (Dan. 4: 35).
Throughout all history, sacred and profane (not
devoted to religious ends), God’s sovereign and providential rule is manifested
both within and beyond what men call “natural law.”
Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy winds
fulfilling his word (Ps. 148: 8).
He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth;
he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the
wind out of his treasuries (Ps.
135: 7).
The
very next verses, however, declare “Who smote the firstborn of
A
full record of the history of God’s dealings with Man is revealed in the
unfolding of successive ages, or time periods, which, for the convenience of
study, we call “Dispensations.” In other words,
it is the historical,
dispensational aspects or episodes which reveal the
progressive development of God’s sovereign purpose concerning His Kingdom.
(The student is referred to The Expanded
Panorama Bible Study Course
for a comprehensive study of the Dispensations.)
A BRIEF
REVIEW OF DISPENSATIONAL HISTORY
(1) The Divine fiat (Latin, “Let it be so”). “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth”
(Gen. 1: 1). The
first profound declaration of Bible revelation is complete and conclusive. The
Holy Spirit introduces us immediately to God as the Author and Cause of the
beginning of everything: the fathomless vastnesses of the material Universe;
life, in all of its mysterious forms; and the crowning glory of God’s Heart and
Hand - Man, whom, by the inbreathing of His spirit, He made a living soul. (2) The
Dispensation of Innocence - God’s
primary and perfect purpose in Man whom He created in His own sinless image.
The tragic record of Man overstepping the bounds of innocence at Satan’s
suggestions to “... be as gods, knowing good and
evil” (Gen. 3:
5)
brings us immediately to the divine revelation of Man’s total ruin and God’s
great Plan of Redemption. After sinning wilfully against the clearest light and
deliberately breaking communion with his creator and divine benefactor, Man was
left without any external means, method, person or process of mediation; thus,
the dispensation which followed is often called (3) The Dispensation of
Conscience; for conscience stood alone
to appeal to man’s inherent sense of right and wrong and the due recognition of
the sovereign government of God. With the defiant abuse of conscience the age
ended with the near obliteration of the race - read the record of the Deluge
and God’s covenant with Noah; he and his family were the sole survivors of the
Antediluvian Judgment (Gen. 6 to 9).
God’s covenant with Noah marked the beginning of (4) The
Dispensation of Human Government -
the government of Man (Mankind) by Man; that is, to Man was given the
responsibility to govern Man for God. “ ... For there is no power
but of God ...” (Rom. 13: 1). In spite of the awesome lesson of God’s dealing with
Man’s obstinate repudiation of His sovereign direction, the generations of Noah
were again determined to rule God out of
the affairs of Man, and the divine decree of government in the hands of Man
found its full expression in the determinate purpose: “let us build ... a tower, whose top may reach
unto heaven, and let us make us a name.
...” The history of
The Call of
Abraham indicated a new beginning, as
it were, of the government of God on earth. An important turning point in the
divine dealing. Based on unalterable covenants between God and Man it is often
referred to as (5) The Dispensation of Promise. During this
period of early history, before an official priesthood was established to stand
between God and Man, the government of God was administered through divinely
chosen vessels remembered as the Patriarchs, who were representative of God to
the family and of the family to God. This marked a new mediatorial relationship between God and Man in which God spoke
directly to the Patriarchs and they, in turn, mediated the Divine Will.
Later,
in the
Call of Moses, the institution of an
official priesthood lifted the spirit of mediation from wider scope and divine
purpose of national life. The nation
VARIED INTERPRETATIONS
OF GOD’S
KINGDOM
PROGRAM
Before
embarking on a more thorough study of Dispensational Truth it will be well to
consider some of the most prevalent of the varied interpretations of God’s
Kingdom program that men have conceived throughout the course of Christian
history. For it is, largely, from the dispensational aspects that the
The Nationalistic Concept. Since their worldwide dispersion the successive
generations of the people of
A Heavenly Kingdom. This very prevalent concept of the
The
The Church-Kingdom Concept. There are those who [mistakenly] identify the
[* See G. H. Lang’s “Firstborn Sons Their Rights and Risks.”]
The Millennial Kingdom Concept. The Millennial Kingdom (the thousand-year reign of
Christ) also designated the Davidic, or Messianic Kingdom, appears as the
government of God on earth under the mediatorial administration of the
Incarnate King and His resurrected,
glorified saints (2 Tim. 2: 12). The
great message of Kingdom prophecy is the anticipation of the fulfilment of all
of God’s covenants with His people,
The Belief of the Early Church. The doctrine of the personal return of our Lord in
power and with great glory to reign in literal, personal presence over the
nations for a thousand years (Latin, millennium) before the resurrection of the “wicked dead,”
and their judgment at the “great white throne” (Rev. 20: 11-15), was the pure, uncorrupted concept believed and
taught during the first three centuries of the Christian era. This teaching, however,
was gradually corrupted by
the spread of the erroneous system of “allegorizing,”
or “spiritualizing” the literal interpretation
of Scripture. This error led to the rapid decline of spiritual
vision and vigilance, until the doctrine of the premillennial coming of Christ
to set up His Kingdom of righteousness on earth was finally suppressed by the
avowed enemies of apocalyptic truth.
At the time of the Reformation, however, the doctrine of Christ’s Second Advent
again became the inspiration of a remnant of faithful believers who fanned the
flame of hope in those dark days of Christian history until an ever-increasing
multitude shared the same blessed hope of Christ’s premillennial and imminent
returning.
The belief of the coming of Christ to establish
His [Millennial and Messianic] Kingdom
founded upon [divine] Old Testament
prophecies, the teachings of Jesus during His First Advent, and from the
inspired Epistles of the New Testament,
while the Apocalypse (“the Revelation,”
or “unveiling” of the Lord Jesus Christ),
written by the Apostle John twenty-six years after the destruction of
Jerusalem, came as a
conclusive testimony confirming the Prophets and specifying the duration of “the Golden Age” to which their hopes aspired.
Six times it is designated as “a
thousand years” (millennium). Our word “millennium”
comes from the Latin, mille - “a thousand,” annus “a year.” The Greek word for “thousand” is chiloi (kil-i-oi)
- thus, the early believers were called Chiliasts
(Kil-i-asts). These early Christians believed that the Lord’s return would precede the Millennium: in
fact, there could be no millennium of peace and righteousness on earth until
Christ, “the seed of the woman,” should come to
bruise the serpent’s head and to consummate His redemptive work. This belief was the testimony of the early church
Fathers who were contemporary with the Apostles themselves.
In
presenting, briefly, the various concepts of the Kingdom we have purposed to
establish the inadequacy of exclusive emphasis upon any one of the many aspects of God’s Kingdom program and purpose.
There is much truth in each Scriptural concept though not in an absolute or
exclusive sense. The sparkle and fire of a diamond is due to the many-sided
facets of the solitary gem and so it is with the
[* See “The Dualism of Eternal Life” by STEPHEN SPEERS CRAIG.
** KEEP in
mind: Christ has TWO future Kingdoms (Rev. 3: 21, R.V.)! (1) His millennial kingdom, (as promised by His Father in Ps. 2: 8), will be established immediately after His
returns to resurrect the “blessed and holy” dead
John 14: 3; Rev. 20.), upon and over this restored earth (Rom. 8: 17-21); and, (2) His
ETERNAL kingdom (in ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ Rev.
21: 1) will
be established after ‘the thousand years are finished’
when ‘the sea’ and ‘Hades’
- [the place of the dead ‘in the heart of the earth’ (Matt.
12: 40. cf.
16: 18]
- ‘gave up the dead’ verses
7 and 13, R.V.). The “New heaven and a New Earth”
(Rev. 21: 1, R.V.) God will create, after the existing “heavens shall pass away with a great noise, and the elements shall be dissolved with a fervent heat,
and the earth and the works that are therein shall be burned up,”
(2 Pet. 3:
10, R.V.).]
THE KINGDOM CONCEPT
IN EARLY BIBLE REVELATION
From
the beginning, when the sons of God shouted for joy the laying of the
foundation of the earth (Job 38: 4-7), it is
that there is a peculiar association between the physical earth and God’s
Eternal Purpose. Looking back in retrospect we now know that in God’s
foreknowledge, of the myriads of celestial bodies of His own creating, the
planet Earth was to be the scene and centre of the poured out Love - the poured out Blood - and the poured out Spirit of Incarnate Deity. The scene
and centre of the whole amazing story of amazing grace. It is, also, clear that
from the beginning God has purposed to establish a
kingdom, of some particular aspect of His sovereign government, upon the Earth.
LUCIFER IN
RELATION TO THE KINGDOM
There
is a considerable amount of interest among Bible scholars in the strong
Scriptural inference concerning Satan’s original assignment in relation to the
earth, which in its primal beauty many believe to have been his delegated dominion.
For of Lucifer (translated, “light bearer”) it
is written: “Thou
art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I
have set thee so ...” (Ezek. 28: 14). As we search the Scriptures it is clear that this
once anointed cherubim lost his princely appointment and dominion by a
presumptuous act of rebellion against the throne and sovereign government of
the Almighty (Isa.
14: 12-15). It is only against this dark background of
the first challenge of the Creator’s sovereignty by a creature, and God’s swift
answer to the challenge, that Man’s place and part and purpose in the whole Bible story can be revealed.
After
the Holy Communion of heaven was broken by the cross-purpose of the anointed
cherub, Lucifer, the scintillating
beauty of earth, in its primal glory, was wrapped in a funeral pall of
darkness, desolation and chaos: “And the earth was [became] without form, and
void ...” (Gen. 1: 2). This mysterious period of eternity - greatly veiled to
us, but clearly known to God - is one of those instances in God’s eternal
purpose where “none
can stay his hand or say unto him, What doest
thou?” (Dan. 4:
35).
But this we know by divine revelation: God purposed to bring forth a company
inferior in might and wisdom to the fallen cherubim, but to be delegated the
dominion that he rebelliously forfeited. In reviewing the Bible evidence there
is no question as to Satan’s past and present relationship with this earth. After being
cast down from his “first estate” he enters immediately into the
scene of human history (Gen. 3: 1-5) and becomes an integral part of Bible
revelation. Space does
not permit a full coverage of this intensely important subject, so we refer the
student to The New Panorama Bible Study Course Number 2, for a comprehensive, visual aid to the study of “Angelology,” which traces the Origin, Rebellion, Fall, Activity and Final Destiny of Satan and his angels.
THE EARTH
AND MAN IN THE KINGDOM CONCEPT
Many
able Bible scholars view the third verse of the first chapter of Genesis as the
divine revelation of a new beginning, after the “waste and void” of the dateless period of Eternity, greatly veiled to
us, between the first and second verses.
Verse One is the record
of the conclusive act of creation by the Divine fiat (“Let it be so”).
Verse Two is the record of a subsequent event and not a
continued description of the first conclusive act.
Verse
Three through the end of the first
chapter of Genesis is a progressive revelation of a new beginning of the
Kingdom concept in its relation to this earth. A revelation beginning
restoration and reconstruction of the earth for the presence, the needs, and
the dominion of
THE
INVESTITURE OF MAN WITH EARTHLY DOMINION
It is here that the theme of our study
of the mediatorial aspect of the
This
Divine plan furnishes us with the first concept of a
The
condemning factor of Adam’s tragic failure as God’s administrator was to
ignore, or discredit the limitations of the delegated authority solemnly set by his Creator. In other words,
“overstepping the bounds.” Thus, we speak of
Adam’s “transgression.” To transgress means “to go
beyond the limits set.” God’s Will is the centre and circumference of
His Eternal Purpose - keeping within the circumference of God’s Will is the
essence of His Kingdom - “Thy Will be done.” Adam’s immortality and the perpetuation of the
dominion delegated to him was dependent upon his recognition of and submission
to God’s direction. Had this been forthcoming, the
It
is not necessary to dwell upon the tragic failure and fall of the first Adam;
suffice it to realize how soon he lost his delegated dominion - the Kingdom of
God’s Will on [this] Earth
- and how quickly Satan seized upon Adam’s loss to again stake out his claim,
as it were, to the abrogated dominion. He seized the sceptre from fallen Adam’s
(now mortal) hands to establish him as “the god of this world” (cosmos, “world system”), and throughout the centuries he successfully
manipulated the usurped dominion into a sinister and dominating influence in
the affairs of men and nations.
The
overwhelming evidence of a Satanic kingdom cannot be denied or ignored when
three times our Lord refers to its ruler as “the prince of this world,” and the Apostle John admits the awful truth that “the whole world is in the
power of the evil one” (R.S.V.).
While this truth must be accepted let us not lose sight of the promise and
prophecy made by God Himself, when sin first lifted its ugly head in the Garden
- “the seed of the woman shall bruise the serpent’s head” - the coming
Deliverer shall destroy Satan’s headship and usurped authority. We have taken time to review the first chapter of human history and
Man’s lost dominion, for the whole sum and substance
of the chapters that follow in our study of The Second Coming of Christ attest
to the glorious truth that the [messianic and millennial] Kingdom of God’s Will on [this
fallen and God-cursed (Gen. 3: 17, 18)] earth, lost in the first man,
Adam, shall be gloriously, judicially
and eternally [i.e., aionios
(age lastingly)] restored in “the second man
... the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15: 47).
(Continued below)
*
* * *
* * *
720
THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST
THE
MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM
IN THE OLD TESTAMENT
HISTORY
By ALFRED THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY NO 2]
-------
The major theme of our study is now focused on the
mediatorial character of the Kingdom of God on earth as revealed from the beginning of Old Testament
history and consummated in person and reign of the Incarnate Christ as “Son of man,” the ideal theocratic King and divine Mediator. When
we speak of the mediatorial concept of the Kingdom we mean “the sovereign rule of God exercised through a divinely
chosen representative.” In the Old Testament we do not find a systematic
doctrine of mediation; it expresses itself in a growing conviction in the human
heart of the righteousness of God and the sinfulness of Man, and the necessity
to bridge the impassable gulf.
The
term “mediator” is not found in the Old
Testament Scriptures. The nearest term of corresponding meaning is “daysman” (Job 9: 33), standing for “arbitrator”
or “umpire.” In the New Testament the Greek
word mestites (mediator) occurs six times, twice referring to Moses and four times
referring to Christ. D.
M. Edwards, in his splendid article on “Mediation,”
states:- “The Divine
plan and processes of mediation is the key to the unity of the Bible ... Mediation between God and Man, as presented in the Scriptures,
has three main aspects represented respectively by the functions of the
prophet, the priest, and the theocratic king ...
these three aspects of mediation in the Old Testament run along lines which
have no meeting place in a person adequate to all the demands. In the New Testament they intersect in the
person and work of Jesus Christ, who realizes in Himself the full meaning of
the prophetic, priestly and kingly ideals.”
We began our study of the concept of mediation with the vestiture of dominion being
delegated to the first man Adam, as head and representative of the race
before God. His failure is a familiar and tragic record. After forfeiting his
princely dominion, expelled from
THE AGE OF
CONSCIENCE
The
Age that followed the expulsion of fallen Man from Eden is referred to as “the Age of Conscience,” for conscience stood to
appeal to man’s sense of right and wrong, and while the direct voice of God was
silent and divine intervention was withheld, man’s conscience appealed but in
vain. Conscience is not a mediator between Man and God; it is an intuition of
moral law. When the will of Man stands at the crossroads of right and wrong,
conscience commands one course and forbids the other.
For
two thousand years God withheld His Hand and His voice was silent while Man
rebelliously demonstrated the exercise of Free Will. The result so grieved the
Heart of God that “… it repented the Lord that he had made man on the earth
...” (Gen. 6:
6).
Again God’s Voice is heard and His sovereignty manifested, asserting His
judicial right as He did in
THE
INSTITUTION OF HUMAN GOVERNMENT
After
the Flood, in which God decreed the destruction of the generation which had
spurned and rebelled against His sovereignty, the Mediatorial Government of God
was manifested anew. To the sole survivors of the judgment, righteous Noah, and
his immediate family (eight souls in all), was given the same Divine command
and commission as was given to Adam in the beginning (Gen. 9: 1-19). With
the charter of dominion renewed God gave the race a new beginning with the introduction
of a new institution on earth: the Government of Man by Man under God. The
divine decree of self-government in the world meant that God would mediate His
sovereign rule through human rulers responsible to Him. “... the powers that be are
ordained of God” (
THE POST-DILUVIAN (after the flood)
PERIOD set the stage, as it were, for
the probation of new generations. It was God’s purpose that the whole world be
populated, “... he
created it not in vain, he formed it to be
inhabited” (Isa.
45: 18), the great human family should gradually and
naturally disperse itself over the earth, whereby all mankind might benefit
equally from God’s universal providence. As the generations of Noah and of his
sons (the nucleus of the new world order) increased in the earth they grew more
and more indifferent to the God of their patriarchal father, and contrary to
the Divine plan of natural and gradual occupation of all the earth under God’s
direction, the spirit of obstinate enmity again possessed them. Repudiating
God’s direction they determined to establish a central one-world government
without the interference of God’s moral sovereignty. Building
a great symbol of defiance to be the rallying point of world unification (Gen. 11: 1-9). “Let us”
was the keynote constitution of man’s first attempt to create a “one-world state.” (Even as we read
these pages we see the unmistakable evidence of Satan’s age-old ambition: the
rapidly moving current toward a one-world government without God.)
THE FIRST
RECORDED “KINGDOMS OF THIS WORLD”
In
the consummation of our study relative to the Second Coming of Christ we read of
the angel with the seventh trumpet (in the apocalyptic
vision) declaring, “The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our
Lord and of his Christ” (Rev. 11: 15). It is of interest to review the first recorded “… kingdoms of this world.” A notable character in the record of early Bible
history was an aggressive leader, builder, and organizer named Nimrod, a son of Ham. There
is no record that this “mighty hunter”
had a right to rule, or the sanction of God to establish a kingdom; however, in
Genesis 10 (the table of nations) we find
the record of “the
beginning of his kingdom in the
Nimrod,
the builder of Nineveh, and other great cities, probably was the architect of
the great Tower of Babel and the Satan-inspired conspiracy to centralize the
power and influence of a one-world system which would rule God out of the
affairs of man and destroy the purpose and hope of inner, spiritual unity of a
World centered in God.
Until this time “the whole earth was of one language and one speech.” As language is the medium of intercourse between man
to man. God brought confusion among them by destroying the common bond of one
language, causing them to speak new and diverse tongues. Of necessity, they
separated into groups whose tongue had
been supernaturally given them to both speak and understand (Gen. 11: 1-9).
Among
those scattered abroad from the building of
Abraham
was commanded to leave his kindred to go to a place that should be shown him.
The command was accompanied by a promise and a covenant. According to the promise Abraham’s name would be great; he would become a
great nation; through him all families of the earth would be blessed; and the
THE FOUR
UNCONDITIONAL KINGDOM COVENANTS
In order to have a better understanding of the chosen
nation’s present and future position and relationship in the Eternal Purpose it
might be well to review the Love and the Oath of Jehovah concerning Israel (Deut. 7: 6-8) by
studying briefly the Four Great Unconditional Covenants spoken of in the Scriptures as “eternal” or “everlasting”
covenants: The Abrahamic Covenant, The
Palestinian Covenant, The Davidic Covenant, The New Covenant. (The Mosaic Covenant given at Sinai was a conditional
covenant.)
The
COVENANT NO. 1. THE ABRAHAMIC COVENANT
Abraham
was called of God to be the instrument of the founding
of a new (non-existent) nation, separate and distinct from all other peoples of
the earth, for God’s own particular purpose, and all that Abraham received was
by divine election. The unconditional promises made to him by God were
threefold: Personal, National, and Universal. “I will
make of thee a great nation.”
The descendants of Abraham went into
[*See also “The Dualism of
Eternal Life” by S. S.
Craig - a study of the use of the Greek word ‘aionios’
and how it has been rendered “Eternal” in
contexts of both FAITH and WORKS by most English Bible Translators.
Compare John 3: 16
with Hebrews 5: 9
for a case in point.]
The Call of Abraham indicated a momentous step in the Divine Purpose - embracing both the earthly and the heavenly aspects of the
(Continued next)
* *
* * *
* *
721
THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST
THE
MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM -
A THEOCRACY
By ALFRED THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY NO 3]
-------
In the opening chapter we spoke of the Universal Kingdom and
the Mediatorial Kingdom and stressed the importance of keeping in mind that two distinct
phases of the Kingdom are in view: the one with absolute and eternal
aspects, “The LORD hath prepared his throne in the heavens, and his
kingdom ruleth over all ...”; the other
a progressive development of the mediatorial aspect of
the Kingdom of God
on earth. We began our study of the first concept of the
It
will be profitable to become familiar with the term “Theocracy,” for the
character of the whole program of the Kingdom of God’s Will on earth is
theocratic - no matter through whom (divinely chosen), or during which phase in
history the sovereignty of God is exercised, the absolute rulership is His alone. The word theocracy comes from
the Greek, theokratia, theos - “God,” kratein - “to rule.” Webster simply define, word as: “the government of a state by the immediate direction of God.” Although theocracy is
not a Biblical word, the concept is exclusively Biblical. The whole kingdom
program can be traced only through the Holy Scriptures; the idea of a theocracy
- God establishing a kingdom on earth under
His own sovereign direction - is only possible within the realm of Divine
revelation.
THE CALL OF
MOSES AND THE
INAUGURATION
OF THE THEOCRACY
We
have taken time in our study to consider the
idea of a
theocracy, for in the Call of Moses the divine institution takes on a decidedly
concrete form. After laying the foundation of unalterable promise in the
Abrahamic Covenant, “I will make thee a great nation,” four hundred years passed before the inauguration of
the Theocracy - four hundred years spent in the rugged school of
affliction and discipline. A
potentially great nation was exposed to slavery, tyranny and idolatry. Here we
see the distinction between the directive and the permissive Will of God. The
directive Will of God pointed to the Promised Land - but God permitted a time
of servitude in a strange land, out of which they would come with great
substance (Gen. 15:
13-14).
Not only material possessions but the fruits of affliction and discipline, for
God declared, “... I will there [
In His
appointed time God sent a deliverer
to bring the potentially great nation out of bondage that He might accomplish
the Divine Purpose. The Call of Moses was attended, personally, by Jehovah who
revealed Himself to His servant as “I am that I am” (the
self-revelation of the self-existent One). Reaffirming His covenant made with
Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Jehovah invested Moses with regal authority to be the first
mediatorial ruler over the nation
which he (Moses) would be divinely instrumental in delivering from the
tyrannical oppression of the Egyptian Pharaohs; “This
Moses ... did God send to be a ruler and deliverer”
(Acts 7: 35), bringing fear upon the surrounding nations to whom
Israel was to be the consecrated witness of the glory and greatness of the Mediatorial Kingdom of God - the sovereign
government and direction of the One True God exercised through a divinely
chosen representative to rule, speak and act for Him.
In
the Call of Moses the spirit of mediation between Man and God, which D. M. Edwards refers to as “the key to the unity of the Bible,” was lifted from
the narrow character of family life, as in the patriarchal period (although, as
such, the Patriarchs were true mediators in their day), to the higher, wider
plane and purpose of national life. God’s covenant promises to Abraham of
innumerable seed and a great nation were well on their way to fulfilment;
Israel was, upon leaving Egypt, ready to be organised and recognized as a great
nation disciplined by trial and
suffering through which it learned to put its trust in the Living God who
declared to the patriarch, Jacob, “I will go down with thee into Egypt; and I will also surely bring thee up again. ...” (Gen. 46: 4). The
consecration (setting apart) and organization of the hosts at Mount Sinai
marked the actual beginnings of
The
theocratic rule - the sovereign direction of God over the nation - did not
annul the tribal arrangement, but formed an inwardly united solidarity. The
unifying bond was the covenant-allegiance to Jehovah as their King: “Ye have seen what I did unto
the Egyptians, and how I bare you on eagle’s
wings, and brought
you unto myself. Now therefore if ye will obey my voice indeed,
and keep my
covenant, then ye shall be a peculiar treasure unto me above all people:
for all the
earth is mine: and ye shall be unto me a kingdom of priests [a priest-kingdom, or mediator-nation between God and
the nations of the earth] and an holy [separated] nation” (Ex. 19: 4-6).
The
words “brought
unto myself,” and “unto me a kingdom,” were the divine declaration of an exclusive
relationship between God and one chosen nation on earth which Jehovah
designated “a
peculiar treasure above all people,”
signifying the establishment of a literal kingdom, distinguished as a theocracy
- God
Himself would be the King, Provider, Protector, and Sustainer of the nation. “Unto me a kingdom” was to mean, literally, a
THE
CONSTITUTION OF THE MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM
The
Mosaic Law given at
The
Mosaic Covenant (made between God and
COVENANT NO. 2. THE PALESTINIAN COVENANT
The Palestinian Covenant sets forth the pre-announced
guarantee to Abraham, confirmed in Isaac and Jacob, of the legal inheritance,
that is, the clear title deed of the land of Canaan (Deut.
30: 1-10; Gen. 17: 18). The
Mosaic Law, which the nation persistently violated, cannot be identified with
the unconditional covenant made between God and the patriarch Abraham. The
Palestinian Covenant (Deut. 30) affirms that in spite of Israel’s
disobedience, apostasy, and ultimate dispersion to the four corners of the
earth, the unconditional covenant promise was never annulled. According to the solemn oath of Jehovah the land shall be,
ultimately, possessed in its entirety by the remnant of God’s covenant people. The national repentance and conversion of
The
Palestinian Covenant is an amazing revelation of the history of the
children of
Three Dispossessions of the Land: In the
prophetic prospect of the nation three dispossessions of the land were
predicted: (1) four hundred years of
servitude in
Since
the final dispersion of the nation among all peoples of earth, and the
destruction of
FROM
THEOCRACY TO MONARCHY
After
the death of Moses the theocratic government of
Samuel, the prophet-priest of
The turning point of
SAUL - THE
FIRST KING OF
Saul, chosen from the tribe of Benjamin, the smallest
and the least of the tribes, was endowed with physical qualities which well fitted him to be the military leader the people
desired. In proclaiming the kingdom Samuel announced to the people of
Before the
public proclamation of the kingdom Samuel took occasion to rehearse to the
people the many divine deliverances “… when the Lord your God was your King” (1 Sam. 12: 12). In
granting their desire for a king “like all the nations,” again we must not lose sight of
the permissive Will of God and the ultimate of the Divine Purpose. God had
declared to the patriarch Abraham, “Kings shall come out of thee” (Gen.
17: 6). Monarchy, as
such, was anticipated in the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God.
Moses, under God’s direction, made provi sion for a kingship over the elect nation. “When thou art come unto the
land which the Lord thy God giveth thee, and
shall possess it, and shalt dwell therein. … Thou
shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom
the Lord thy God shall choose ...” (Deut.
17: 14, 15). Thus,
the desire was granted to Israel, not because
of the demand of the people but in accordance with the institution of God’s own
law concerning kings, “… the powers that be are ordained of God” (Rom. 13: 1).
The changing form of the administration of government
in the covenanted kingdom was an historic development toward the ideal
government of the kingdom - residing in a king who would meet all the just and
righteous demands of Jehovah and all the religious, moral, civil, social and
eternal needs of His people,
DAVED -
SAUL’S SUCCESSOR
David,
the shepherd lad, was next chosen and anointed King of Israel. The reign of
King David was, undoubtedly, the brightest era in the historical kingdom, and
is clearly identified with the development of the ideal theocratic kingdom,
inasmuch as God entered into an unconditional covenant with David in which He guaranteed that the
throne of his kingdom would be established forever: “And thine house and thy
kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Sam. 7: 16).
In
accordance with this unconditional covenant David’s
dynasty would be perpetuated and come to a full and ideal realization in One (Messiah, Christ) who “according to the flesh” would be David’s seed (Acts 2:
30-31; Luke 1: 32-33; Rom. 1: 3). The
last words of King David (ending the most memorable period of
COVENANT NO.
3. THE DAVIDIC COVENANT
(1) The Abrahamic Covenant embodied an
everlasting homeland and everlasting seed to occupy and possess it.
(2) The Palestinian Covenant confirmed
and enlarged the promise concerning the “seed.”
(3) The Davidic Covenant concerns the
seed specifically. The covenant promise made by God to David embodies: a House (dynasty), a Kingdom, a Throne, Forever.
The
term “throne” does not always refer to a material throne, but to
the symbol of kingly power and dignity, denoting governing or judicial
authority. There shall come a time when
The
provisions of the Davidic covenant are: (1)
David would have a son who would succeed him; (2) God would establish his kingdom; (3) He would build an house unto the Lord: (4) The throne of his kingdom would be established forever by God (2 Sam. 7: 8-17). Although
the covenant was unconditional, iniquity
in the Davidic house (dynasty) would bring judgment and chastisement, but never
annulment of the Kingdom Covenant. “The house of David”
(the Davidic dynasty) will always be the royal line. Had “the seed” kept
Jehovah’s covenant commandments there would have been uninterrupted succession
to the throne “... until
The
succession of Davidic kings, however, was broken, as the prophet Hosea
declared; “For
the children of
The
fulfilled portions of the Davidic Covenant are
now authentically recorded history: Solomon succeeded his father David; His
Kingdom was established by God; Solomon built the
The
unfulfilled portion of the Davidic Covenant, by God’s
own oath, shall be as literally fulfilled as the events related above which are
now established facts of history: “My covenant will I not break, nor
alter the thing that is gone out of my lips. ... His [David’s] seed shall endure for ever and his throne as the sun before me”
(Ps. 89: 34, 36). Thus, the great expectation of Old Testament prophecy
- the yet future glory of
THE
THEOCRATIC KINGDOM UNDER SOLOMON
King
David was succeeded by his son Solomon, meaning “peaceful
ruler.” David’s military conquests paved the way for an era of peace in
the land. During Solomon’s reign Israel reached the peak of
its national glory, but it was also in Solomon’s reign (which ended in moral
bankruptcy and religious apostasy) that the nation began its tragic decline,
which resulted in disruption of the kingdom and the ultimate dispersion of the
nation to the four corners of the earth (Read God’s clear words of warning in Deuteronomy 28: 63-68).
Solomon did not ascend to the throne by right of
heredity or by primogeniture (right of the firstborn), or by the choice of the
people. In giving counsel to the nation before his death King David said: “And of all my sons (for the Lord hath given me many sons) he hath chosen Solomon my son to sit upon the throne of the
kingdom of the Lord over
Solomon’s reign began in a blaze of glory but ended in
utter disregard of the Lord’s charge concerning the duty and conduct of kings,
and shameful disloyalty to Jehovah’s righteous cause in the earth (1 Kings 11). After chastisement had fallen upon the house of Solomon, and the disruption and
division of the historic kingdom between Rehoboam (Solomon’s son) a Jeroboam
(who established a sanctuary with its own order of priests in opposition to
Jerusalem, the city of God [2 Chron. 11: 15]), the
kings were no longer chosen directly by God, but took the throne by inheritance
or by force. Solomon was the last divinely appointed ruler over
(Continued below)
*
* * *
* * *
722
THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST
THE END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM
By ALFRED THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY NO 4]
-------
The
The
THE DEPARTURE
OF THE “SHEKINAH”
When “the kingdom of God over Israel,” as king David defined it, was established at
Thus, Jehovah took back the sceptre He had entrusted
to the house of David (for the historic kingdom was no more), transferring
supremacy over the nations into Gentile hands; “ ... the most High ruleth in
the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will” (Dan. 4: 25). “For the children of
Confirming
the prophet’s vision of the departure of “the glory of the Lord,” Jesus, lamenting over
The
Old Testament, largely occupied with the character and future glory of Messiah’s reign, closed with its
hopes unrealized and its great kingdom prophecies unfulfilled. Prophecies that were based on the
unconditional covenant guaranteeing the nation of
[*
NOTE: The Temple which the Antichrist will desecrate after
breaking his covenant with the Jewish nation; it is not
the
THE TIMES OF
THE GENTILES
The
historical end of the Old Testament Mediatorial Kingdom brought about a
critical change in the course of human history.
When
the elect nation was set apart at Sinai God declared that as long as that people were obedient to His voice
and faithful to His covenant they would be a peculiar treasure unto Him “above all people.” Although disobedience and unfaithfulness brought
Jewish national and political life to an end, and the kingdom was no more, the
nation did not cease to be God’s covenant people. The
unaccomplished mission of
In
the great prophecy of Daniel 2, the vision
of the colossal image which King Nebuchadnezzar saw in a dream, is a condensed
outline of the entire course of earthly dominion from the time of the vision to
the end of Gentile World Supremacy. The end is seen as the
swift and utter demolition of all human domination in the earth, followed by an
[age-lasting
(Gk. ‘aionios’ millennial Rev. 20: 5) not]
everlasting [as in Rev. 21: 1] Kingdom
which the God of heaven shall “set up” - a mediatorial Kingdom not
limited to the bounds of any one nation but extending throughout the whole
earth and embracing all peoples (Dan. 2: 44; 7: 13-14).
KINGDOM PROPHECY
AND THE PROPHETS
As such a large portion of the Old Testament writings
are prophetic in nature it will be well to consider the nature of Bible
prophecy, for the future theocratic kingdom on earth, under the righteous reign
of the ideal theocratic king, is the major theme of the prophet’s message.
According to Biblical teaching a prophet is a speaker of, or for, God. Apart
from divine revelation the future is veiled with an impenetrable silence. But
God, to whom the end is known from the beginning (Acts 15: 18), according to His Will and Purpose has at sundry
times broken the silence that veils the future, speaking through divinely
appointed men, who thus became “the speaker of Jehovah” (Hebrew, nabhi), or “the
mouth of the Lord.” The characteristic
announcement of the prophet of God was: “The Word of the Lord came to
me, saying. ...” A revelation was not necessarily heard with physical
ears, or seen with physical eyes, but with the supernatural and spiritual
mystery of “inner ears” and “inner eyes.” A
revelation with a divine certainty even if not visible or ever fulfilled in the
prophet’s generation.
Old Testament Prophecy is not a progressive panorama
of unbroken circumstances; often the realization of predicted events would be
separated by centuries. A great portion of Old Testament prophecy awaits
future fulfilment. Often the
prophets themselves did not understand the time element involved in God’s
dealings with His people (1 Pet. 1: 10-12). Bible prophecy can never be disassociated with human
history. What is history today was Bible
prophecy yesterday - what is Bible prophecy today will be history tomorrow. The
last Bible prophecy fulfilled will mean the closing event of human history, as
far as the present world order (cosmos)
is concerned.
(Continued below)
*
* * *
* * *
723
THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST
THE KING AND
THE KINGDOM
IN OLD
TESTAMENT PROPHECY
By ALFRED
THOMPON EADE
[STUDY NO. 5]
-------
In our brief study of Old Testament History we noted
the providential development of the Mediatorial Kingdom idea from the Edenic
blueprint, when God delegated “dominion over all the earth” to the first man Adam; to the period of the Patriarchs
who were mediators of the Divine Will in the patriarchal system of family life;
to Moses, the first divinely appointed mediator and ruler of the chosen nation,
Israel. This continues with the long line of “Judges,” through whom God executed His judgments: to the change of
administration from the theocracy to a monarchy, beginning with the divine
appointment of Kings, and ending with the disruption and division of the
Having reviewed the
According to God’s prophetic word, the restoration of “dominion over all
the earth” (lost in
the person of the first Adam) must be restored in the last Adam: “The first man is of the earth, earthy: the second man is
the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15: 47). The
utter destruction of Satan’s usurped authority and headship of the kingdoms of
this world must be
accomplished by a Person - not a
great moral influence, and idealogy, a political system, or a kingdom, as such,
but, “He shall bruise the serpent’s head,”
“... the
government shall be upon His shoulder” (Isa. 9: 6). God’s
ideal Theocracy demands a personal administrator with wisdom and power to
govern with justice and righteousness in the affairs of man. The coming One is
pre-eminently the coming King. A number of the royal predictions concerning the
King and His regal glory are listed under later headings:
“The Kingship of
Jesus” and “The Crown Rights of Jesus.”
A TWOFOLD
PORTRAITURE
Old Testament prophecy presents a double portraiture of the Messiah: we,
therefore, find ourselves confronted with two distinct and contrasting lines of
prophecy. In contrast to the imperfect administration of the mediatorial rulers
of the historic kingdom, He (the Coming One) is represented as the perfect
Servant of Jehovah, of whom the Lord
could say, “Behold
my servant, whom I uphold; mine elect, in whom my soul delighteth” (Isa. 42:
10, cf. Matt.
12: 18). He is seen as the Redeemer, suffering vicariously for
the sins of the people: “... he hath [with
prophetic certainty] poured out
his soul unto death ... and made intercession for the transgressors” (Isa. 53: 12); this is the most profound expression of the concept
of mediation in the prophetical writings of the Old Testament.
The Suffering and the Glory of the
Coming One is so woven into the
tapestry of Old Testament prophecy that to both prophets and people it was seen
as one blended vision of Messiah’s advent. The contrast, however, must surely
have been a paradox. One revelation portrays the Messiah as “a tender plant. ... despised and rejected of men; a
man of sorrows. ... smitten of God and afflicted.
... wounded for our transgressions” (Isa. 53: 23); “... thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin” (verse 10). Yet He is also seen as a
mighty King who will break the nations “with a rod of iron”
(Ps.
2: 9),
and the one of whom the prophet Daniel spoke
when he beheld in vision the investiture of the Son of man (the title applied
for the first time to the coming King) with a kingdom (over five centuries
before the advent of the King): “I saw ... and, behold, one like the Son of
man came with the clouds of heaven. ... And there was given him
dominion, and glory, and a kingdom,
that all peoples,
nations,
and languages,
should serve him:
his dominion is an everlasting dominion” (Dan. 7: 13-14).
The
Scriptures set forth the appointed time of the presentation of the long awaited
Messiah-Prince (9: 25), yet the prophet Isaiah portrays Him as One “cut off out of the land of the living” (53: 8). It is no small wonder that the prophet should ask the
searching question, “Who hath believed our report?” - the paradox of Messiah “... that saith unto
The
Messiah came just as the prophet declared He would come, “…lowly and riding upon an ass…”
(Zech. 9:
9); He
was “…despised
and rejected of men…” (Isa.
53: 3). An astounding number of the most dramatic
predictions uttered by different men of God over a period of centuries were
literally fulfilled in twenty-four hours in the one person, Jesus Christ, who
was:
Sold for thirty pieces of silver. (Zech. 11: 12; Matt. 26: 15).
Betrayed by a friend. (Ps.
41: 9; John 13: 18).
Forsaken by His disciples. (Zech.
13: 7; Matt. 26: 31, 56).
Accused by false witnesses. (Ps.
35: 11; Mark 14: 56).
Silent before His accusers. (Isa. 53:
7; Matt. 27: 12).
Scourged. (Isa.
50: 6; Matt. 27: 26, 30).
Pierced through hands and feet (Ps. 22: 16; John 19: 17-18, 20: 25-28; Luke 24: 39-40).
Parted from His garments. (Ps.
22: 18; Matt. 27: 35).
Given gall and vinegar. (Ps.
69: 21; 27: 34).
[Had] not a bone broken. (Ps.
34: 20; John 19: 31-37).
Crucified with malefactors. (Isa. 53:
12; Matt.
27: 38).
Buried in a rich man’s tomb. (Isa. 53:
9; Matt. 27: 57-60).
These
are Old Testament prophecies of Christ’s humiliation and suffering and the New
Testament record of their literal fulfilment. The
prophecies concerning His Glory as “King over all the
earth” await His Second Advent.
The
Old Testament prophets did not foresee the intervening period
of time between the Cross and the Crown (1
Pet. 1: 10-11). Nurtured in the hope that all of
the kingdom prophecies would be literally and immediately fulfilled in the
Coming One, Israel awaited a leader who would break its political
bondage and restore the kingdom (the historic Hebrew Monarchy) to its former
place of supremacy; when He presented Himself “meek and lowly” to deliver them from spiritual bondage, the disappointed and
disillusioned nation rejected Him. This was the nation brought into
being for a special mission in the earth, by Jehovah’s choice, rejecting its
God-appointed and God-anointed Messiah-King.
To
summarize the major predictions of Old Testament prophecy relating to the
coming King, we see set forth: (1)
His First Advent-prophecies which embrace His Divine Origin, Nature, Character,
THE
LITERALITY OF THE COMING MESSIANIC KINGDOM
The
Prophets of God throughout the ages have foretold of a glorious era of
righteousness when the
This
ideal system of world government, so coveted by men of goodwill in every
passing generation, cannot be realized until “the God of Heaven” personally undertakes the transition and establishes His Kingdom, which the Scriptures declare “shall not be left to other
people …” (Dan. 2: 44). It shall not be left in the hands of human
administrators, “For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven …” (1
Thess. 4: 16), “And his feet shall
stand in that day upon the Mount of Olives, which
is before
THE SUBJECTS
OF THE
PART 1
In the present age
(from Pentecost to the Second Coming of Christ) the human family is divided
simply into three great companies: The
Jews (blood descendants of Jacob); The
Gentiles (Hebrew, goyim - “nations,” which generally assumed the meaning of
non-Jew); The Church (Greek, Ekklesia - from ek,
“out,” kaleo, “to call”)
composed of born-again believers, both Jews and Gentiles called into one heavenly body in Christ (in which the
distinction of Jew and Gentile disappears in the spiritual unity of redeeming
grace). The prospect of the church
is The
Second Coming of Christ - “unto
them that look for him shall he appear the second time without
[apart from] sin unto salvation”* (Heb. 9: 28). Thus, Christ, “Who is gone into heaven and is on the right hand of God
...” (Pet. 3:
22),
did not ascend into heaven to stay, but shall return to consummate His
redemptive work, namely, the translation of “the church of the
firstborn** which are written in
heaven,” [Heb. 12: 13, R.V.] and the deliverance of the whole creation from the bondage of corruption (Rom. 8: 21-22; 1 Cor. 15: 51-53; 1 Thess. 4: 16-17).
[* NOTE the context where the word ‘salvation’ is used here! This is a reference to a future salvation, for those who
already have received eternal salvation by faith alone in the Person of
Christ Jesus, as Saviour and Lord! Compare with 1
Pet. 1: 5,
9, 10 and
13, R.V.
** See also “Firstborn Sons
Their Rights and Risks,” by G.
H. Lang.]
After
the Translation of the Church [‘of the firstborn’ -
(see Luke 21: 34-36; Rev. 3: 10, R.V.)] there will be
but two companies remaining on the
earth:
[* See Luke 14: 14; 20: 35;
Phil. 3: 11; Rev. 20: 4-6, R.V.]
THE
REGATHERING AND RESTORATION OF
TO THE
PROMISED LAND
The regathering of
This,
yet future, restoration of Israel, characterized by the divine promise, “I will return,”
is clearly associated with the Second
Coming of Christ (the Messiah). The relation between the
literal, historic Kingdom of David (“a
house desolate” during this present [evil]
age) and the reestablishment [during
“the age to come” (Heb.
6: 5,
R.V.)]
of the covenanted kingdom as declared in the Davidic Covenant: “an house
(dynasty), a throne, a kingdom,
for ever,”* is set
forth clearly in the words of the prophet Amos:
“In that day
[of the Lord’s return] will I raise up
the tabernacle of David that is fallen, and close up the breaches thereof; and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old” (9: 11).
Between the words “fallen” and “I will build it up as in the
days of old” lies the
compassionate promise “to close up the breaches thereof.” The archaic Hebrew definition of a breach is “a break,” “disruption,”
“a bruise,” “a wound.”
[* That is, for “the age”
yet to come, as divinely promised.]
THE
REGENERATION OF
Prior
to the nation’s permanent possession and occupancy of the land, Israel will
experience a national conversion - a spiritual regeneration, a change of mind
and heart and attitude towards their long rejected Messiah and Deliverer Jesus
Christ, the Son of God and rightful heir
to the throne of His father David (Luke 1: 31-35).
We
read in Romans 11: 26, “And so all
Thus,
“
COVENANT NO.
4. JEHOVAH’S NEW COVENANT
WITH
The
New Covenant is the last (and yet future) of the four great unconditional
covenants between God and the nation of
The
all-important similarity of the old and new covenants is that of ratification
(making of the covenant valid) with “blood.” Moses “took the blood of calves and of
goats ... Saying, This is the blood of the testament which God hath enjoined unto you
[
We are still living in “the times of the Gentiles” and
while this dispensation continues,
THE SUBJECTS
OF THE
The Gentile
Nations at the Second Coming of Christ
Much
Old Testament prophecy foresees a remnant of Gentile nations sharing, with
converted
Thus,
through regathered, restored and converted Israel the Mediatorial Kingdom of
the Messiah (Christ) shall be extended over the whole earth embracing all
peoples; “And the
Lord shall be king over all the earth: in that
day shall there be one Lord and his name one” (Zech. 14: 9).
Before this scene of universal harmony, however, the
Scriptures predict a Judgment of
the Gentile Nations to determine the worthy subjects of Christ’s
Kingdom of righteousness and
everlasting [Gk. “aionios” as age-lasting] peace: “I will also gather all nations and, will bring them down into
the valley of Jehoshaphat, and will plead with them for my people and for my heritage
Israel, whom
they have scattered among the nations, and parted my land” (Joel
3: 2). In the chronology of Matthew
24 and 25 the Judgment of the Nations is seen to take place at the Second Coming of Christ. “When the Son of man shall
come in his glory ... then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
And before him shall be gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one from another. As a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. Then
shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come,
ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom* prepared for you from
the foundation of the world” (Matt. 25: 31-34).
[*
NOTE: This inherited “Kingdom,” promised to
our Lord (Ps. 2:
8) and His redeemed people (Luke 22: 28-30), when He will return to rule “out of
The King then describes the basis upon which judgment
is meted out (vv. 35-46), and concludes with the verdict: “And these [those upon the left hand] shall go away into everlasting [Gk. “aionios”] punishment. …” God’s judgment upon the armies of
the ungodly kings of the earth is swiftly executed at “the battle of that great day
of God Almighty” (Rev. 16: 13-16; 19: 11-21). Armageddon,
when Christ shall come “in flaming fire taking vengeance” (2 Thess. 1: 8). The Judgment of the remnant of Living Nations set forth in Matt. 25: 31-46 takes place, however, at the beginning of Christ’s Millennial
Reign when as King of kings He is seated upon “the throne of His glory.”
The
basis of the judgment is not solely the rejection of the testimony of the
coming Kingdom to an apostate world, as witnessed by the saved and sealed of
The
Greek word for “brethren” is adelphos, meaning “of the same womb”
- brother, relative. Christ the Jew is speaking of His brethren the Jews in
contrast to the Gentiles (ethnos) gathered before Him. In Joel 3: 2, a
prophetic picture of the same gathering and judgment of the nations, Jehovah
speaks of pleading for “my people,” and “my heritage
Those
surviving the divine indictment are given the gracious invitation, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit
the kingdom prepared for you from
the foundation of the world”
(whereas, the ransomed “church of the firstborn” was chosen in Christ “... before the
foundation of the world,” Eph. 1: 4). The words “inherit the kingdom” reveal the nature and purpose of the judgment,
namely, to determine those, from among [the dead in ‘Hades’ (John 3: 13; Acts 2: 34; 7: 5; 2 Tim. 2: 18; Rev. 6: 9-11, R.V.) and] the nations of
the earth at Christ’s
returning, who shall enter into the Millennial Kingdom of righteousness and
those who shall not. To [some
of] those
who shall not the King shall pronounce the awesome words of eternal finality, “Depart from me ye cursed.” The sentence may well be the consummation of the oath
of Jehovah to Abraham in the beginning of the history of the chosen people. “... I will bless them that
bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee”
(cf. Deut. 30:
7).
The Judgment of the Nations, which takes place at the beginning of Christ’s Millennial Reign, is often confused with
the Great White Throne Judgment, which takes place at the end of Christ’s Millennial Reign, but a comparison of Matthew 25: 31-46 and Revelation
20: 11-15 is
conclusive.
It
is predetermined by Judgment (2 Thess. 1: 7-10; Ezek. 20: 37-38; Joel 3: 2; Matt. 25: 31-46) that the subjects
of Christ’s Messianic Kingdom on earth shall
be: the
saved of
AS TO THE
EARTH IN THE KINGDOM AGE
The
subjects of Christ’s Millennial Reign
on Earth are said to “inherit the kingdom prepared from the foundation of the world” - the Edenic dominion forfeited by Sin, which left
its curse upon the whole creation (Gen. 3: 6-19; Rom. 8: 22). We
have already learned the blessed truth that all which was lost in the first man
Adam shall be restored, far more
abundantly, in the last Adam, “... the Lord from heaven” (1 Cor. 15: 45-47).
At
the time of Israel’s entrance into Canaan it is described as a good land of brooks
of water, a land of wheat, barley, fruit, oil, and honey, a land that “drinketh water of the rain of
heaven” (Deut. 8: 7-10; 11: 11). With
the promised blessing of abundance God
solemnly warned His covenant people that if they failed to keep His commandments
and turned to other gods He would “shut up the
heaven, that there be no rain; and that the land yield not her fruit ...” (11: 16-17). One would
assume that such a naturally fertile and fruitful land would yield in abundance
even though the chosen people no longer dwelt upon the land, but God decreed
that it should not be so.
In
a previous chapter we studied the Restoration of Israel to the land; “... in that day, that the mountains shall drop new wine [abundance
of vineyards], and the hills
shall flow with milk [pasture lands to
sustain increasing herds]” (Joel 3: 18). “And he will cause to come down for you the rain, the former rain, and the
latter rain in the first month. And the floors
shall be full of wheat ... wine and oil. And I will restore to you the years that the locusts hath
eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpillar ...” (2:
23-27). “... the ploughman shall overtake the reaper, and the treader of grapes him that soweth seed ...” (Amos 9: 13). “Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir tree, and instead of the brier shall come up the myrtle tree
...” (Isa. 55: 13). “O let the nations be glad and sing for joy: for thou shalt judge the people righteously, and govern the
nations upon earth. ... Then shall the earth yield her increase ...” (Ps. 67: 4, 6). These are but a
few of the prophetical promises concerning the earth which now groans, with all creation, under the thraldom of
the curse imposed upon it by the blight of Adamic Sin. The Old Testament prophets, however, envision the full restoration of
the earth to its former fertility and Edenic beauty (Isa. 51: 3). With the elimination of blight and devouring hosts
upon the land, the devastating elements brought into harmony and serenity by
the One whose voice subdued the wind and the waves (Matt. 8: 23-27), His coming shall be “... like rain upon the mown grass: as showers that water the earth” (Ps. 72: 6).
THE CURSE OF
WAR REMOVED
FROM THE
EARTH
In
Isaiah’s great prophecy of “the child born”
and “the son
given,” we read, “... and his name shall be
called ... the Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no
end ...” (Isa.
9: 6-7). At the
birth of the Divine child, whom Isaiah prophesied, the angelic hosts sang: “Glory to God in the highest, and
on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2: 14).
With the rejection of the peace-bringer, however, there could be no peace; but
rather, in Christ’s own words, “Ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars ... nation shall rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom ...” (Matt.
24: 6-7). In our
own generation peace-loving nations have fought wars “to put an end to war” and to make the world safe from tyranny and
aggression, but to no avail, “For when they shall say, Peace
and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon
them ...” (1 Thess.
5: 3). In answer to His disciple’s question, “What shall be the sign of thy
coming?” Christ set forth “... wars and rumours of wars
... famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places [the
world over]” as characteristic signs of a troubled world in a
troubled age. (Matthew 24 is often called “the Book of Revelation in miniature.”)
The coming of the Prince of Peace is the only
solution to the present futile Arms Race - the only trustworthy answer to
disarmament among the nations; “And he [Messiah-King] shall judge among many people,
and rebuke strong nations afar off; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into priming hooks: nation shall not lift up a sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Mic. 4: 3). With Satan (the real instigator and agitator of
bloody aggressors thirsting for power and dominion) imprisoned in the pit
during Messiah’s reign (Rev. 20: 1-3) the nations shall know war no more, for “He [the Prince of Peace] maketh wars to cease unto the end of the earth...” (Ps. 46: 9).
Final
and total cessation of war will be a blessing never before experienced in the
history of this blood-soaked, war-torn world. Freedom from war will mean
freedom from fear and freedom from want - “they shall plant vineyards and eat the fruit of them”
(Isa. 65: 21), and “they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig
tree; and none shall make them afraid …”
(Mic. 4: 4).
RELIGIOUS
UNITY
As seen in the kingdom prophecies the land
of Israel, reclaimed, rebuilt and restored to the historic people of God, will
become the religious centre of the coming theocratic kingdom on earth with
Jerusalem as the centre of religious unity. “…out of
THE NATURAL
LIFE OF MAN IN THE KINGDOM AGE
It must be remembered that the subjects
of Christ’s earthly, Millennial Kingdom are the sifted and spared of the
nations (including Israel) - they are not
glorified beings (as “the church of the firstborn”) which shall be changed from mortal to immortal (the
living), and from corruption to incorruption (the resurrected dead “in Christ”), but natural, mortal beings, inhabitants of the re-Edenized earth, with bodies of flesh and blood, begetting
children and perpetuating the nations which constitute Christ’s Millennial
Kingdom. Human life, however (by
the assuring inferences of Old Testament prophecy), will be free from the
ravages of decay, pestilence and disease (which Paul speaks of as “the bondage of corruption”), thus, longevity (the life span) will, naturally, be
prolonged. The Scriptures infer that a man of a hundred years will be
considered (age-wise) a child (Isa. 65: 20, Zech. 8: 4, Ezek. 47: 12). Then the blind shall see, the deaf hear, the lame
leap and the dumb shall sing (Isa. 35: 5-6). “And the inhabitant shall not
say, I am sick ...” (33: 24).
Unlike
all other ages death will be the exception not the inevitable, and then only as
a punitive measure in dealing with flagrant rebellion against the shepherdising
government of the Righteous King (Isa.
11: 4).
This reveals the fact that although the character and environment of the coming
Kingdom Age will be as near to perfection as all the hopes and dreams of the
ages have aspired, it will not be found perfect until Death (the
last enemy to be destroyed) is finally, totally and eternally abolished to the
complete vindication and triumph of “God and the Lamb” (1 Con.
15: 26; Rev. 20: 14; 21: 4).
ANIMAL LIFE
IN THE KINGDOM AGE
The
Animal Kingdom, as created by God “in the beginning,”
is described as “cattle,
and creeping thing, and
beast of the earth…” (Gen. 1: 24; 25). Cattle
(for the domestic use of man), creeping things (land reptiles and insects),
beasts of the earth or roaming animals of forest and fields were all
granivorous - the green herb alone was
given them for meat (Gen. 1: 30). The
original nature of the animal kingdom, in its Edenic serenity, was harmless and
unharmed, and all were brought before Adam that he might name the individual
specie (Gen.
2: 19). Their nature, however, was obviously affected by the
curse pronounced by God upon the earth and all life on it, the penalty of Man’s
transgression against the sovereign government of God. Flesh-eating beasts,
birds and reptiles are evidence of the unnatural sustenance of the animal
creation both in the light of God’s original order of things and in the
restoration and final deliverance of all creation from the curse. Then, God’s
Word declares, “The
wolf also dwell with the lamb, and the leopard
shall lie down with the kid ... and a little
child shall lead them. ... and the lion shall
eat straw like the ox. And the suckling child
shall play on the hole of the asp ...” (Isa. 11: 6-8). Thus,
the wild beast will cease to devour, the poisonous reptile and the pestilent
insect will no longer be fearful and repulsive to Man, “And in that” [MILLENNIAL] “day
will I make a covenant for them with the beasts of the field … and will make them to lie
down safely” (Hos.
2: 18).
WHEN WILL
THE MESSIANIC KINGDOM COME?
In spite of moral and spiritual chaos and the heavy hand
of Divine Judgment and chastisement upon the elect nation, the prophets saw
glowing promises of a better day, when Messiah-King would come to re-establish
the covenanted kingdom and usher in an era of peace, prosperity and security to
the beleaguered nation. The prophet Habakkuk,
however, was given a vision of beneficent
blessing far beyond the boundaries of
The questions “When?” “How long,
Lord?”
“Lord, how long?” are heard repeatedly throughout successive
generations. Haggai writes, “It is a little while ... and
the desire of all nations shall come ...” (2:
6-7). Hosea,
however, declares, “...
[* NOTE: How
important it is for US to take a closer look at what the Holy Spirit,
through the Prophet Hosea and the Apostle Peter, has written: “AFTER TWO DAYS” (i.e., two millenniums (2 Pet.
3: 8, 9,
R.V.) - “HE WILL
REVIVE US; ON THE THIRD DAY HE WILL RAISE US UP” - (i.e., CHRIST JESUS will THEN RESURRECT the “BLESSED and HOLY” dead from “HADES”: Rev.
20: 5; Acts 2: 27, 34. Cf. 2 Tim. 2: 17b, 18, R.V.) - “AND WE SHALL LIVE BEFORE HIM:” (HOSEA 6:
2,
R.V.).
Keep in mind: “The FIRST Resurrection” (Rev. 20: 5, R.V.) is SELECTIVE!
That is, ALL of the DEAD are NOT
resurrected when Our Lord Jesus will return! (John
3: 13; 14:
3; 1 Cor.
15: 23; Rev. 20: 7, 12-15, R.V. Cf. Matt.
16: 18; Luke 16: 23, 29-31; Acts 2: 27; 7: 4, 5; Rev. 3: 21; 6: 9-11, etc.). Only those “ACCOUNTED WORTHY to ATTAIN to the AGE,
and THE [out] RESURRECTION [out] FROM
THE DEAD” (Luke
20: 35; cf. Phil. 3:
11; Heb. 11:
35b, R.V. etc.): “SHALL LIVE BEFORE HIM”!
Church
eschatology today, and its traditional beliefs, have become the enemy of our Lord’s teachings
and unfulfilled
prophetical truths!]
THE GREAT
PROPHECY OF DANIEL’S
“SEVENTY WEEKS”
(9:
24-27)
The question, “When will the Kingdom come?” the time of the King’s First Advent, is clearly set
forth in Bible chronology, specifically in the revelation given to the prophet Daniel
by the angel Gabriel. Toward the end of the Babylonian captivity, which had
been accurately foretold by the prophet Jeremiah, Daniel prayed for a
revelation of the future fortunes of his people and God, hearing his anxious
supplication, dispatched an angel with the answer:
Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people
and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins. and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy. Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and
to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the
wall, even in troublous times. And after [the] threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut
off, but for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy
the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof
shall be with a flood and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the
oblation to cease, and for the
overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate [desolator] Dan. 9: 24-27.
There
are many exhaustive expositions by eminent Bible scholars on the “seventy weeks” of Daniel’s great prophecy. Due to the limited nature
of our study we shall present only a summarisation. It was revealed to Daniel
that “seventy
weeks” would be determined in
which the full measure of blessing promised to Israel (the establishment of the
nation in everlasting righteousness), although deferred, would at last be
consummated; but not until the transgression (the apostasy of the nation and
the rejection of the Messiah) was brought to an end, and reconciliation made
for iniquity. The course and consummation of God’s dealings with
The
first sixty-nine weeks of the seventy (totalling 483 prophetic years) are
definitely dated by an historical beginning and a never-to-be-forgotten ending;
from the time that permission was granted to the Jews, by King Artaxerxes, to
rebuild the devastated city of
The
tragic events predicted to take place after the
first sixty-nine weeks (verse 26)
are now authentically, recorded history - the cutting off (by crucifixion) of
the Messiah (Christ), after which the city of Jerusalem and the Holy Sanctuary
were destroyed (A.D. 70) by the people of “the prince that shall come.” The people who fulfilled the divine prediction were
the people of the Roman Empire, out of which (by this prophetic identification)
in some form of like worldwide dominion, “the prince that shall come,” the false Messiah, the great desolator, “That Wicked One” shall make his appearance (John 5: 43; Dan. 7: 7-8; 11: 36-45; Rev. 13: 1-8; 2 Thess. 2: 3-12).
Since
the cutting off of the Messiah and the destruction of
The
heavenly messenger did, however, reveal the unmistakable sign that marks the
beginning of the final period (the one remaining “week” of seven years), often referred to as “Daniel’s Seventieth Week” (still awaiting [a
literal seven-year-week and] future fulfilment). The final and concluding week
of the seventy is marked (prophetically) by the negotiation of a seven year
covenant or treaty between “the prince that shall come” and the deluded Jewish
nation (Dan. 9: 26-27).
This is an event which unquestionably lies in the future, to be more fully
reviewed as revealed in the continuity of end-time events.
(1) The first sixty-nine weeks of Daniel’s
great prophecy terminated over nineteen hundred years ago. (2) The final week (of seven years)
awaits future fulfilment. These two conclusive facts bring
us face to face with the mystery of the break in the continuity of God’s
dealings with Daniel’s people, the Jews. This
gap, or indefinite period of time, is
obviously beyond the prophet’s vision.
To understand the meaning and purpose of the intervening period of Bible
history between the termination of the sixty-nine weeks and the beginning of
the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy (Dan.
9: 24-27) we must appeal to New Testament revelation to
clearly understand the sovereign plan of God - for when the chosen people,
Israel, cut themselves off from their Messiah, God
visited the Gentiles to take out a people for His name (Acts 15: 14). Thus,
the Divine Purpose for this present [apostate, and evil] age solves the mystery of the interim period between
the sixty-ninth and the seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy (to be studied
later under the heading: “The Mystery Hidden from Past
Ages”).
God’s
dealings with
THE
MEDIATORIAL KINGDOM IN
NEW
TESTAMENT REVELATION
The
New Testament is the revelation of the historical fulfilment of Old Testament prophecies
concerning the person and work of the Messiah as the Divine Son of God. “In the beginning was the Word” (Greek, Logos). The Incarnate Son is,
from eternity, the utterance or expression of the person and thought of Deity,
born of a virgin conceived by the Holy Ghost (Luke 1: 34-35). In the
mystic union of Deity and humanity the Incarnate Son is also revealed as “the seed of Abraham,” of tribe of Judah, and through the kingly line of
David as heir to David’s throne (Luke 1: 32). Thus, through David, as King of Israel, and through
Abraham, as the One in whom “all families of the earth shall be blessed,” the
coming Messiah not only fulfils all Old Testament hopes for Israel, but the
realization and consummation of the two great Divine purposes: the Kingdom
and the church - the earthly and the
heavenly. Of these special lines of revelation the Old Testament and the New
are in harmonious accord. The coming “...
King over all the earth” is “... the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of world.”
THE BIRTH OF
THE KING
Matthew 1 is “The book of the generation of
Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham.” In tracing the natural descent of Jesus the word “begat” (which is the correct word for natural generation, or
procreation) is used in “the account of descent.”
Abraham begat Isaac, Isaac begat Jacob, and so on (until the record reaches
Joseph: “Jacob begat Joseph the husband of Mary, of whom was born Jesus ...” (verse 16). The word “begat” (to procreate as a sire, male progenitor, father) stops at Jacob - “Jacob begat Joseph”; whereupon (after a continuous record of forty-two
generations in the register of families). the language suddenly changes from
the seed of Man “begat” to the seed of a woman - “Mary of whom was born Jesus.” The Virgin Birth must be accepted by faith not by
reason. The questioning “How?” of Mary (and of
the ages) was not answered; the words of the angel were not the explanation but
the Annunciation: “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee
shall be called the Son of God” (Luke 1:
35).
The
angel declared to Joseph, “That which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost” (Matt. 1: 20). The origin
of the body of Jesus is ascribed to God as “a body hast thou prepared me” (Heb. 10: 5) - not
germinated from the life-stock of the human race, not the origin of a new being
never before existing, but the infinite mystery of a pre-existing Divine Being
implanted within the realm of germinate life. “… the Word was made flesh …”
The Virgin Birth is the only key which fits the
mystery of the Incarnation; “... and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God
with us.” Four thousand years of
prophecies, promises and preparation after Jehovah predicted that the serpent’s
head would be bruised by the seed of the woman (Gen. 3:
15),
while angels rejoiced and devils trembled, came the proclamation from the Glory
World: “... behold,
I bring you good tiding of great joy, which shall be to all people. For
unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ [the anointed] the Lord” (Luke 2: 10-11). In his genealogy of Jesus, written primarily to the
Jews, Matthew gives the natural descent of the Messiah through Abraham, and His
royal rights through David.
THE KINGSHIP
OF JESUS
(1) In the Annunciation by
the angel Gabriel the Kingship of Jesus was assured to the virgin mother: “And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and
thou shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be
great, and shall be called Son of the Highest:
and the Lord God shall give unto him throne of his
father David ... and of his kingdom there shall be
no end” (Luke 1: 31-33). Thus, the everlasting kingship of Jesus was declared
by an Ambassador of heaven at the Saviour’s birth.
(2) The Magi (originally a Median tribe named, in the A.V., “wise men”)
came from the east to
(3) The Proclamation of the Angels also attested to the Kingship of Jesus in the title,
Christ. “For unto
you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord” (Luke
2: 11). “The
anointed One” of whom Jehovah, in
the 2nd. Psalm, announced as “...
my king ...” Jesus was born in
(4) The Recognition of Christ’s
Messiahship. One of Christ’s
disciples declared. “We have found the Messiah ... the
Christ [the anointed]” (John 1: 41): Nathanael
greeted Jesus as “the Son of God ... the King of Israel”
(1: 49); the Samaritan woman with whom Jesus spoke of the
water of life, “... saith unto Him, I know that Messias cometh, which is
called Christ. … Jesus saith unto her, I that speak unto thee am he” (4: 25-26). In
claiming to be the Messiah Jesus tacitly announced His kingship. Speaking
later. to His disciples Christ declared, “The son of man shall come in his glory ... then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: And before him shall be gathered all nations” (Matt. 25: 31-32).
Thus, Christ’s title to kingship is attested: by
Birth; by Angelic Annunciation and Proclamation; by Public Acclaim as “the son of David” (thus heir to David’s throne); by God’s own oath to
David concerning the perpetuity of his dynasty, “... that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he
would raise up Christ to sit on his throne” (Acts
2: 30); by Divine appointment, “Yet have I set my king upon my holy bill of Zion (Ps. 2: 6)”; and, by Christ’s own obvious claim,
which was the basic change that finally condemned Him to the Cross, “He himself is Christ a King”
(Luke 23: 2).
When
Jesus publicly offered Himself as King and the multitude cried. “Hosanna to the son of David,” the chief priests (anxious for Jesus to publicly
incriminate Himself) said, “Hearest thou what these say?”- in other words, “Do you mean to accept these Messianic cries and kingly
titles?” Jesus answered with a positive “Yea” (Matt.
21: 1-16). When Pilate
asked “Art thou a
King?” Jesus answered, “Thou sayest that I am a king.
To this end was I born ...” (John 18: 37). In the Greek text Christ’s answer is a positive
affirmation. After declaring that His kingdom was “not of this world,” Pilate ventured, “then a king thou Art?” Jesus answered, “Thou sayest [it], for a king I am” (“Basilus ego imi”). In his answer Jesus grants Himself to
be a king, though not in the political, material sense that Pilate meant.
The claim of kingship followed Christ to the Cross.
The superscription, “Jesus of Nazareth the King of the Jews … written in Hebrew and Greek, and
Latin,” was the charge which
condemned Him. To summarize the conclusive testimony of the Kingship of Jesus: He was born
a king - the angel announced “the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his
father David.” He died a
king - nailed to His Cross was the
irrevocable testimony, “Jesus of Nazareth the King.” The dying, penitent thief pleaded, “... Lord remember me when thou comest into thy Kingdom,” and Jesus gave the penitent His royal assurance of
remembrance. He arose a King
- having been faithful unto death God has exalted Him far above all
principalities and powers, higher than the kings of the earth, and sovereign
Lord of a new creation. He is coming back a King - “Which in his times He shall show, who is the blessed and only Potentate, the King of kings, and Lord of
lords” (Tim. 6:
15).
The question sometimes arises as to why Jesus did not use
His rightful title (Messiah) earlier in His ministry. The answer, undoubtedly,
lies in His wish to avoid any misconception as to the true nature of His
Messiahship (Matt. 16:
20-21),
as later clearly revealed in the reaction to His teaching - “From that time many of his
disciples [looking for a political
leader to deliver them from the yoke of Rome] went back, and walked no more with him” (John
6: 60-66).
(Continued below)
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724
THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST
THE CROWN
RIGHTS OF JESUS
By ALFRED
THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY NO. 6]
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King
David felt impelled to build a house unto the Lord; the character of his reign,
however, was marked by incessant wars and bloodshed (1 Chron. 22: 8) which, in God’s sight, unfitted him to be the builder
of a house of praise and peace. God was not unmindful of David’s intent and
entered into an unconditional covenant with the king (The Davidic Covenant),
guaranteeing the perpetuity of his dynasty and his throne, “And thine house and thy
kingdom shall be established forever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever” (2 Sam. 7: 16). David
accepted God’s promise with unshakable confidence; the 89th
Psalm is at once a confirmation of the covenant and a warning that
disobedience in the royal posterity of David will be punished with chastening
but never abrogation of the covenant (vv. 30-37). David’s
faith was reiterated in his last words, “Although my house be not so with God; yet he hath made with me an everlasting covenant ordered in
all things, and sure …” (2 Sam. 23: 5).
In 1 Cnron.
3 we read the order of the names of the
nineteen sons of David. The most familiar names in the register are Nathan and Solomon.
Nathan, as elder, should have ascended the throne at the death of his father
David, but God had other plans - He chose the younger son, Solomon. Since there
seemed to be no controversy between Nathan, the natural heir, and God’s choice
of the younger Solomon, Jehovah (of
whom the prophet wrote., “… none can stay his hand, or say
What doest thou?”) may have
consoled Nathan with the revelation of His ultimate purpose - that through “the seed of the woman” (of Nathan’s posterity) would One, far greater than
Solomon, be brought forth who would ascend the throne of David and whose
kingdom of everlasting righteousness would extend from sea to sea and to the
uttermost parts of the earth. This is confirmed in the genealogy of the mother
of Jesus, Mary, whose father was Heli, a descendant
of the royal house of David through the line of Nathan (Luke 3: 23-38). Keep in mind that the Davidic bloodstream,
separated in David’s sons Nathan and Solomon, ran parallel in history to God’s
appointed purpose.
THE KINGLY
LINE
Solomon’s
reign was the
The
royal line continued, for good or ill, in its successive order with some
familiar names until one Jehoiachin (2 Chron. 36: 8), also
called Jeconiah and Coniah (1 Chron. 3: 16, Jer.
22: 28), whose name
marks an important point in genealogical history. Jeconiah reigned over
The
important point of history is that Zedekiah was
the last king to sit up on the visible throne of the Davidic kingdom - the prophets
of the exile, Jeremiah and Ezekiel, however, did not regard him as Jehovah’s
anointed but one whom Nebuchadnezzar “had made King” (Jer.
37: 1). Ezekiel’s title for Zedekiah is “prince,” therefore, the
last real king of
Of
this king’s brief reign (before his captivity) there is little to tell. In Jeremiah 22: 24-30 there is
a final pronouncement (his inevitable fate: “Thus saith the Lord, Write
ye this man Childless [as a legal restriction not actual
childlessness] ... no man of his seed
shall prosper, sitting upon the
throne David, and ruling any more
in
The
throne of
THE LINEAGE
OF MARY
The only record
of genealogy is found in Luke
3; all other records were destroyed with the
razing of the
In Luke
3: 23 Joseph is said to be the son of Heli,
“the son” in the sense of the Jewish usage of the term because
he was espoused to Heli’s daughter (which was
tantamount to marriage). Joseph was the natural son of Jacob, a descendant of David through the line of Solomon. Luke’s record is divinely constructed to trace the
lineage of Mary through her father Heli, who was also
a descendant of David through the line
of Nathan.
The
two genealogies weld two inseparable truths: Jesus was miraculously conceived;
He is the legal heir to the Davidic throne. Jesus is at once
called Son of God and Son of David - Son of God by
virtue of His conception by the Holy Ghost, Son of David by virtue of His birth to Mary of the house of David
through Nathan.
The
two genealogies are seen again, in their divinely intended purpose, in the
decree of the Roman ruler Augustus, demanding “... that all the world should be taxed”
(Luke 2: 1). There was no registering by proxy; this was the duty
of the head of the house, the father, and if dead the eldest son, if no son the
eldest daughter (Num.
27). This
was the position of Mary. It was her
duty to represent the family of Heli (a descendant of
David through the line of Nathan), while Joseph represented the family of Jacob
(a descendant of David through the royal line of Solomon). Through the bond
of betrothal, the Davidic line (separated in David’s sons Nathan and Solomon
but running parallel in the course of history), was united in the union of Mary the mother of Jesus and Joseph
His legal foster father. In the birth of Jesus, Mary’s relationship was to God
alone in sublime submission to His Will (Luke 1: 38). The virgin
birth of Jesus was a creative contact of God with humanity. The union of
Joseph (called “son
of David” [Matt. 1: 20], and “of the house of David” [Luke
1: 27], the last named of the royal line before the birth of Jesus), and Mary
(also of the house of David) established the validity of the legal and regal
rights of Jesus, as legal son of His foster father Joseph (the last-named heir
to the Davidic throne), upon whose death all rights (including royal rights) relating to inheritance,
would fall to the firstborn son following betrothal (according to the Jewish
law). All of which genealogical evidence is transcended by the sovereign
promise and purpose of God: “... the Lord God shall
give unto him the throne of his
father David” (Luke 1: 32).
The
Holy Scriptures present the Incarnate Christ as King. The righteous
government of God upon the earth is the paramount theme of Old Testament
revelation. All lines of
Messianic Prophecy lead us to the King and the ultimate establishment of His
Kingdom. All the events associated with the Birth of Jesus
attest His Messiahship.
THE
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE KINGDOM
The
New Testament begins with the elect nation,
[* What a pity, and
how sad to see so little of the ‘hope’ today!
But what can we expect when apostasy and Anti-millennialism is now
so rampant within the
The
last Old Testament messianic promise, “Behold I send my messenger, and
he shall prepare the way before me ...” was literally fulfilled in the ministry of John the Baptist, the
divinely appointed forerunner of the promised Messiah. “In those days came John the
Baptist preaching ... Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 3: 1-2). Much confusion regarding the Kingdom, which John
announces will be avoided if it is clearly understood that the phrase “the kingdom of heaven” does not refer to a kingdom
located in heaven but a Kingdom (yet
future) on [this restored (Rom.
8: 10-21)] earth, which is heavenly in character - “Thy will be done, as in heaven so on earth.”
In
announcing the near approach of the [coming Messiah’s] Kingdom,
John had in mind the Kingdom which the Old Testament prophets had long foretold
throughout the nation’s history. His proclamation was of vital importance for
he was the last link between Old Testament prophecy and New Testament
revelation. He used the term “the kingdom of heaven” (“of the heavens”) - the heavenly rule of the
long-anticipated, ideal, theocratic kingdom - never fully realized in Old
Testament kingdom history, but predicted as certain and sure in Old Testament
kingdom prophecy.
The
early years of Christ’s life were passed over in holy silence until He
presented Himself to John for baptism, being “about thirty years of age” - the age at which the priests and Levites began
their public service, and the scribes had authority to teach (Num. 4: 3, 43, 47). The first recorded message of Jesus (the voice of the
forerunner having been silenced) was a personal affirmation of the herald’s
testimony: “From
that time Jesus began to preach, and to say,
Repent: for the kingdom
of heaven is at hand” (Matt. 4: 17). “And Jesus went about all
Later,
He instructed the twelve disciples to go to “the lost sheep of the house of
Christ
gave no explanation of the meaning of the announcement to the messengers, nor
did the preachers explain to the hearers, for both clearly understood there
could be no other Kingdom message to the house of
In
the announcement of the immediate nearness of the Kingdom there was one
imperative, qualifying condition that the nation failed to realize - a time for
national and individual heart-searching and decision, as Jesus clearly and
conclusively declared: “The time is fulfilled ... repent
ye ..” (Mark 1: 15). The message of Repentance was by no means
unfamiliar to the back-slidden nation; thus, as a prerequisite of the Kingdom,
Repentance was a continuation of the Old Testament prophet’s constant appeal.
John’s
dynamic, soul-stirring preaching was purposed to awaken the nation out of its
false sense of racial security, as being “children unto Abraham” (Matt.
3: 8-9). By
virtue of this, entrance into the kingdom of heaven was anticipated by
(Continued below)
*
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725
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
THE OFFER AND REJECTION
OF THE KINGDOM
BY ALFRED
THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY No. 7]
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The primary purpose of the gospel written by Matthew was
to present Jesus Christ to the Jews as their Messiah-King; carefully tracing
His legal and regal rights to the Davidic throne - primarily, in that Christ
declared, in His earliest ministry, “... I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the House of Israel”
(Matt. 15:
24).
To avoid confusion it must be realized that Jesus when preaching (proclaiming)
in affirmation of John the Baptist’s message “Repent ye for the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” was not preaching “the
gospel of saving grace,” but, rather, proclaiming “the gospel [good news]
of the kingdom,” an exclusive proclamation to the nation of Israel.
Matthew
also records the progressive opposition to Christ as
Jesus
offered the Kingdom, in His royal person and His mighty works (Matt. 11: 5), to the nation whom God had chosen and to whom He had
given an unconditional promise of its perpetuity. Jesus spoke of
Before
the great discourse, spoken in parables to the multitude, regarding “the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven” (Matt. 13) Jesus
intimated to His Jewish hearers a severance of racial ties by which He was
bound (as Son of David, son of Abraham) to the covenant nation, and made known
to them an entirely new relationship. The inception of a new family of faith - no longer limited to mere national claims, as “sons of Abraham,” but extended to “…
whosoever shall do the will of my Father which is in
heaven ...” (12: 46-50). God is not dealing now with a nation after the
flesh, but with a new people, based on a new relationship to be secured for the
believer through a personal experience with God - a spiritual regeneration,
based on a personal. saving faith in Jesus the Incarnate Son (John 3: 3, Matt. 11: 28-30: Rom. 8: 14-17). As the
Apostle Paul later declared to the confused Galations: “Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children
of Abraham” (3: 7); “And if
ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise”
(verse 29). In preparing His disciples for
their ministry in the new divine purpose (in view of His rejection by His
covenant people) Christ speaks of the new relationship as “my church [ekklesia, “an assembly of called [out] ones”]” (Matt.
16: 18).
The
establishment of the Messianic Kingdom was contingent upon the nation’s
acceptance of her King (there could be no neutral ground) and entrance into the
Kingdom was contingent upon a [personal] righteousness which exceeded that of the Scribes
and Pharisees, whose
righteousness was reduced to mere ceremonialism (Matt.
5: 20). Christ intimated the formation of a new thing in the
divine purpose, no longer the immediate prospect of the establishment of the
earthly, Davidic kingdom, “Then charged he his disciples that they should tell no man
that he was Jesus the Christ [the
Messiah-King of the kingdom covenanted to Israel]” (Matt. 16: 20). The former testimony, that the kingdom was “at hand,” was now ended. “From that
time forth ...” Jesus began to speak of His death and Resurrection, upon
which the newly revealed purpose in the Incarnate Son must be built. The
rejection of the King did not mean abandonment, but postponement of the
establishment of the Davidic kingdom.
Although
As
shown in an earlier chapter, Old Testament prophecy presented a twofold
portraiture of the Coming One: He is revealed as the Suffering Servant and the
Reigning King - a paradox that can only be reconciled in the fact
that His suffering was accomplished at His First Advent while His Glory awaits
His Second Advent. Thus, the suffering and
rejection of the King did not change
the certainty of the establishment of His Kingdom; it clarified the element of postponement - the interim between the rejection of the King’s
first appearance and the glad acceptance of His return with power and great
glory to “build again
the tabernacle of David, which is fallen down ...” (Acts 15: 14-17) - to re-establish the Davidic dynasty according to
the covenant promise of Jehovah (2 Sam. 7: 16). “... because they
thought that the kingdom of God should immediately appear ...” in the parable of the ten pounds Christ prepared
His disciples for the postponement of
the Kingdom (Luke 19: 11-27) and
assured them of their part [in it] when the Kingdom shall be set up at His Coming in
[manifested] Glory
(Matt. 19: 27-30; 21: 28-33; Rev. 3: 21; 5: 10; 2 Tim. 2: 12).
In
the Olivet discourse (Matt. 24) Christ promised His disciples His Second
Advent with signs that would herald the nearness of His coming. He also
prepared them (as the representative nucleus of witnessing disciples) for their
ministry in the intervening age while God’s Kingdom-program on earth would be
held in abeyance, awaiting the day (in the secret council of God) for the King
to return to consummate His redemptive work
(Rom. 8: 22-23; Eph. 1: 14, Phil. 3: 20-21); to
resume His dealings with the nation of Israel; to establish the Mediatorial
Kingdom with Messiah (Christ) reigning from the throne of David over restored
and regenerated Israel; and through the favoured nation extending His dominion
to the ends of the earth (Isa. 66: 18-19; Zech. 9: 10; 14: 9; Dan. 7: 14).
The
full revelation of a Second Coming could not be made clearly understandable
until the rejection of the King was historically certain; “from that time forth” in parable and direct teaching Christ presented the
Kingdom as yet future and clearly associated its inception with His Second Coming, forming a composite picture
of both blessing and judgment. Had we lived in early New Testament days, we
undoubtedly would have asked, “What will happen to the
Kingdom program with every evidence at hand of the rejection of the King?”
In Matthew 13: 1-52, Christ sets forth the answer in the
oft-repeated phrase, “the kingdom of heaven is like unto ...”; Christ then speaks of the interpretation of the
parables as “the
mysteries of the kingdom of heaven.”
That
God has purposed, even from the beginning, to establish a Kingdom of some
aspect of His sovereign government on earth was no mystery. The mystery was
that the great manifestation of the Divine Purpose - the Virgin Birth and the
miraculous ministry of the One in whom all the promises, prophecies, and
messianic hopes must be realized “... came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:
11) -
justified the revelation of an hitherto unrevealed purpose, an interim that
would fall between the First and Second Advent of the Messiah-King.
In the program for
THE MYSTERY
HIDDEN FROM PAST AGES
Dispensationally,
one of the most important passages in New revelation is recorded in Acts 15: 14: “Simeon
hath declared how God at the first
[for the first time] did visit
the Gentiles [Greek, ethnos - “nations”], to take out of them a
people for his name.” This important revelation declared the divine purpose
for this present [apostate, disobedient and evil] age, solving the mystery of the intrim
period between the sixty-ninth and seventieth week of Daniel’s prophecy (since
Israel’s rejection of their King) - to take out from among the Gentiles a
people unto Himself. Gentiles “being aliens from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers from the covenants of promise ... are made nigh by the blood of Christ ... who hath ... broken down the
middle wall of partition [having broken the bounds of Jewish
nationalism to embrace the whole earth and all peoples] ... that
he might reconcile both [believing Jew and Gentile] unto God in in one
body by the cross ...” (Eph. 2:
12, 14, 16).
This
the New Testament revelation spoken of by the Apostle Paul is the mystery, “Which in other ages was not
made known the sons of men ... the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in
God ... According to the purpose which he
purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Eph.
3).
This is the mystery whereby whosoever, in this present age of grace, may, by
the New Birth, become a member of the body of Christ: “the church of the firstborn,
which are written in heaven”; each individual, whether converted Jew or Gentile,
is called and chosen in Christ by a spiritual regeneration to the saving of his soul (Col. 3: 11, Eph. 3: 7).
“After this ...” (Acts
15: 16) - after the out-calling of a people for His name
(consummated in the rapture or catching away of the [“accounted worthy” (Luke 21:
34-36; Rev. 3: 10)] called ones, 1 Thess.
4: 16-17), the prophet Amos sets forth the order of the momentous events of New Testament
eschatology (last or final things) summarized in the divine forecast: “I will return, and will build again the tabernacle of David
… and I will set
it up. That the residue of
men might seek after the Lord, and all
the Gentiles upon whom my name is called …” (Acts
15: 14-18).
Dispensationally these four verses
epitomize the great [millennial and] eternal purpose now clearly understood in New
Testament revelation: (1) The divine
out-calling of a people this present age - in other words, the building of
Christ’s church [of the firstborn] against which the gates of hell [i.e., Hades] shall not prevail (Matt.
16: 18 [R.V.]); the
distinctive work of the Holy Spirit from the day of Pentecost to the Rapture.
(2) The return of the long rejected
King - this time to be gladly
accepted by desperately needy Israel, in the most critical hour of the nation’s
turbulent history, known in the Scriptures as “the time of Jacob’s trouble” (Jer. 30: 7). (3) The reestablishment of the
THE DIVINE
PURPOSE IN THIS PRESENT AGE
The Divine Purpose in this present age is set forth as
“the mystery,
which from the beginning of the world hath been hid in
God ...” (Eph. 3: 9). The mystery, or hitherto unrevealed secret in God’s redemptive
work and purpose, is the perfect manifestation of the infinite grace of God in
the preparation for an heavenly, no longer an earthly, people from among both
Jews and Gentiles on equal terms of unmerited favour, in this present age.
The
parables of Matthew 13, called by our Lord “the mysteries of the kingdom
of heaven,” describe the
beginning, the moral development and end result of the presence and purpose of
the gospel in this world in this present age. The time of seed-sowing actually began
with the new message of Jesus: “Come unto me all ye that labour [under the law], and are heavy laden [with the
consciousness of personal, inner need], and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11: 28). Turning
from the rejecting nation Jesus offers the blessings of peace and righteousness
and spiritual deliverance to all who will accept His gracious invitation: “Come unto me.”
It
is clear that the lesson which Christ wished to convey concerns the period
between the days when the parables were spoken and the harvest, which, in
Christ’s own words, “is the end
of the world [“the
consummation of the age”].” As the consummation of this present age is
marked by the Second Coming of Christ,
the parables of Matthew 13 must describe the
condition which prevail on earth in the interim between His First and Second
Advent. In setting forth the time of seed sowing and the harvest Christ
declared “the field is the
world [cosmos - the present
arrangement of human affairs].”
The parables mark a turning point in our Lord’s ministry.
The new purpose of God in Christ, with new truth, new promises, a new intimacy
embracing His Death, Resurrection, Ascension and Second Advent, is the theme of
our Lord’s discourses to His disciples prior to His great prayer of
intercession for them in the garden of Gethsemane (John
14-17). Truths that were veiled to
the multitude were promises, privileges, assurances. admonitions and warnings
to those whom He now calls “friends” (John 15-15).
The
mystery form or character of the Kingdom is the intervening period and purpose
in which the infinite grace of God is perfectly realized and manifested, “That in the ages to come he
might show the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us [both believing Jew and Gentile] through Christ Jesus” (Eph. 2: 7). The Purpose, Course, and Consummation of this Present
Age is set forth in two revealing portions of the New Testament: Matthew 13 and Revelation 2-3 - the twofold purpose of King and Redeemer consummated
in the Kingdom and the church, two distinct divine purposes in the
all-inclusive Redemptive Work of the Eternal God as seen in the momentous
events of New Testament eschatology. Matthew 13 is from the
viewpoint of the mystery form of the Kingdom program, Revelation 2-3 from the viewpoint of the church program.
THE RELATION
OF THE CHURCH TO THE KINGDOM
This
present age, which is occupied with “the mysteries of the Kingdom of heaven,” as described in the parables of our Lord, is often
referred to as “the Church Age” - the
interruption of God’s program for
The
high honour and privileged relation of the church to the Kingdom is foreseen in
the following passages of Scripture: “...
And hast made us unto our God kings and priests:
and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5: 10); “... they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years” (20: 6) - the
duration of Christ’s Messianic Reign. “To him that overcometh
will I grant to sit with me in my throne ...” (3: 21) is a yet future privilege, for Christ is now ascended
into heaven and set down with the Father on His throne. “If we suffer
[with or because of Him] we shall also reign with him ...” (2 Tim. 2: 12). These are but a few of the many passages of Scripture
which point conclusively to the revelation of the raptured [and resurrected] church returning with her Lord to share His
glorious reign, when His present priestly ministry is accomplished (Heb. 8: 1), and He
shall return to establish His Kingdom of heavenly rule on earth.
(Continued below)
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726
THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
THE SECOND
COMING OF CHRIST
BY ALFRED
THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY No. 8]
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The importance of the revelation of Christ’s Second
Advent is realized in the fact that there is scarcely a prophecy in the Old
Testament that does not in some way bear upon the coming Kingdom and the promised
Messiah. In the New Testament it is mentioned 318 times and it has been
declared by count and confirmation that one verse in twenty-five makes direct
or indirect reference to Christ’s Second Coming and glorious presence in the
earth in “the
latter days.” Those who believe in
the Pre-millennial Return of the Lord Jesus Christ to establish a kingdom of
righteousness upon the earth hold to the literal, dispensational interpretation
of the Word of God.
The theme and focal point of our study is The Second Coming of Christ, which
relates to both the church and the Kingdom. The present age, in respect to the
church terminates with the Translation, or Rapture of the true church from the
earthly scene to “ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4: 16-18). The Rapture of the church, “the blessed hope” of
every true believer, is followed by a series of momentous events both in heaven
and on earth, climaxed by the Revelation (Apocalypse - “unveiling”) of the Lord Jesus Christ “... coming in the Clouds of
heaven with power and great glory,”
accompanied by His Raptured Saints and His Holy Angels (Matt. 24: 30, 16: 27; cf. Rev. 19: 11-16). “Behold he cometh with clouds; and
every eye shall see him ...” (Rev. 1: 7). “And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives.
... And the Lord shall be king over all the earth
...” (Zech. 14:
4, 9). These climactic events constitute the consummation of
this present age - the close of the present world order, and set the stage, as
it were, for the establishment of Christ’s
THE COMING
OF CHRIST FOR HIS CHURCH
Much has been said, in our study, regarding this
present age - The Church Age, The Age of Grace, The Dispensation of the Holy Spirit
- which began, historically, with the birthday of the church on the day of
Pentecost, and will terminate with the translation, or rapture of the truly
born-again believers at the literal, personal returning of the Lord Jesus
Christ (1 Thess. 4: 16-17).
The verb “translate,” as used twice in Hebrews
11: 5, has the sense of removing
(transferring) one from the earthly
to the heavenly state without the intervening experience of death.
Just as there are references to that period of
Israel’s history designated “the last days”
(the “end time” of her historic Kingdom glory), so are there numerous
passages of Scripture bearing upon “the last,” or “latter” days of church history, immediately preceding the
Rapture of the Saints. The end-time period of the Church Age is depicted as a
time of evil and apostasy when “… some shall depart from the faith” (cf. 1 Tim. 4: 1; 2 Tim. 3: 1 -5), hence,
Paul’s admonition to “Put on the whole armour of God that ye may be able to stand
against the wiles of the devil” (Eph.
6: 11).
The manner of Christ’s returning was assured simply and conclusively by the heavenly
attendants at His ascension into heaven: “this same Jesus, which is
taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in
like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven” (Acts 1: 9-11). He
ascended into heaven literally, bodily, and visibly, so shall He descend from
heaven in like manner.
The
First Coming of Christ was not only a momentous event in history limited to the
day of His birth in Bethlehem, but a time period of progressive events
embracing His Birth, His Earthly Ministry, His Crucifixion, Resurrection, and
Ascension into Heaven. His Second Coming, likewise, although regarded as one
glorious event, also embraces a time period of progressive events. The manner of
Christ’s coming is revealed as twofold in character and purpose: He is coming for His Church, and with His
Church - and between the twofold purpose of the one glorious event, there will
be a relatively short interval during which momentous and climactic events will
take place both in heaven and on earth. From our immediate viewpoint (standing
between the Cross and the Crown) the next great, imminent event affecting both
born-again believers and the whole (unregenerate) world is The Rapture
of the church. A review
of Paul’s immortal chapter on the Resurrection (1 Cor. 15: 51-57), and the
familiar verses of 1 Thessalonians 4: 13-18, gives us
a clear, complete and comforting description of the Rapture - the catching away
and the end of the earthly pilgrimage of “the church of firstborn which are written in heaven.” This is twofold revelation, embracing the Resurrection
of the dead in Christ, and Translation of the [“accounted worthy to
escape (Luke 21: 34-36)”] living
saints occurring [almost] simultaneously* at
Christ’s Coming for His own.
[* That is,
between the first and selective rapture of living saints (Luke
21: 34-34 cf. Rev. 3: 10), and “the first resurrection” from “Hades”
(Matt. 16: 18.
cf.
Acts 2: 27,
34, R.V.), of the “blessed and holy” dead saints (Rev. 20: 6. cf. Luke
20: 35; Phil.
3: 11):
there will be a period of three and a half years when Antichrist will break his
covenant with the Jews, and begin persecution against all remaining Christians! NOTE:
There is no mention of any resurrection of the dead mentioned at the
time of the first rapture of living saints ‘accounted
worthy to escape” Antichrist’s persecutions!]
“Behold, I shew You a
mystery; We shall not all
sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the
twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this
corruptible [the dead
in Christ] must put on incorruption, and this mortal [the
living in Christ] must put on immortality” (1 Cor. 15: 15-53).
In
2 Corinthians 5: 1-4
Paul expresses his desire (the desire of
all living believers) not to be unclothed by death, but to be clothe upon with
immortality without passing through the valley of the shadow. For at the Rapture of the Church in its entirety (the resurrected
dead in Christ and the living saints changed from mortal to immortal at His
Coming) it is evident that the last generation of living believers will experience the unique and
blessed privilege of escaping the ghastly hands of death [great
tribulation and persecution] and being “clothed upon with
immortality” (cf. Luke 21:
28-36).
“For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and remain unto the coming of
the Lord [at
the end of the Great Tribulation] shall not prevent them which are
asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of
the archangel, and with the trump
of God: and the dead in
Christ shall rise first: Then we which are
alive and remain [to
the time of the second rapture] shall be caught up together with them in the clouds
... so shall we
ever be with the Lord” (1 Thess. 4: 15-17).
This
revealing, crystal-clear and conclusive passage emphasises the promise of
Jesus, “... I
will come again, and receive you unto myself;
that where I am there ye may be also” (John 14: 3). Paul reiterates the fact that the Lord Himself shall
descend out of heaven [at
the end
of the Great Tribulation] to meet
His ascending (“caught up”) saints, to escort
them to the place He has prepared for His own (“... ever to be with the Lord”). The Greek word harpazo which is translated “caught up” means “a catching away with
suddenness,” or described by the Apostle, “In a moment, in
the twinkling of eye.” Luke
described it as: “There shall be two in a bed; ... two shall
be grinding at the mill; ... two shall be in a
field, and the one shall be taken, and the other left” (Luke
17: 34-36). Those
taken and those left obviously refer to those “in Christ” and those not [“accounted worthy to escape” (Luke
21: 36; Rev.
3: 10)] “in Christ” - His own and those not His own (John 17: 12).
Here, those taken and those left refer to the living; so shall it be with the resurrected dead at His Coming -
those not [“accounted
worthy to obtain that age” (the Lord’s millennium)] “in
Christ” shall be excluded
from the [out]-resurrection [which Paul,
through the “fellowship of His sufferings”
sought to “attain”
(i.e., ‘gain by effort’) Phil. 3: 11, R.V.]. “But the rest of the dead”
- [including the dead “in Christ” not
resurrected at this time] “lived
not again, until the thousand years were finished”. Thus, the
resurrection of those [“accounted worthy,” who “attain”
unto the select resurrection “out of the dead ones” (Phil.
3: 11,
Lit. Greek)] “in Christ” is “... the first
resurrection” (Rev. 20: 5). “Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection:
on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with Him a thousand years” (verse 6).
A
first resurrection presupposes a second resurrection but not “… until the thousand years [the duration of Christ’s Messianic reign] were finished.” The
description of the resurrection of those not “in Christ”
is set forth in Revelation 20: 11-15. Thus, then a distinction
of time and character in the two resurrections. The first precedes the millennial reign of Christ,
the second takes place after
the millennial reign is finished. “…there shall be a
resurrection of the dead, both of the just and
the unjust” (Acts 24: 15). The first is the resurrection of the just,
mentioned in Luke 14: 13-14. The second is the resurrection of the
unjust spoken of as “the resurrection of damnation,”
in contrast to the resurrection of “life” ( John 5: 29).
THE JUDGMENT
SEAT OF CHRIST
“For we must all appear before
the judgment seat of Christ ... according to
that he hath done, whether it be good or bad”
(2 Cor. 5: 10). The Apostle Paul is, here, addressing the church. The [collective] pronoun
“we.” - [which must include the judgment of saints after their death in “Hades” (Heb. 9: 27. cf. Matt. 16: 18; Luke 16: 22, 23; Acts 2: 27, 34, R.V.)
and therefore before the time of their resurrection!] - (occurring in almost every verse in the chapter,
refers directly to the Believer. The judgment Paul speaks of has to do with the Believer’s works not his
sins. The Believer’s judgment for sin is already passed; Jesus “bare our sins in his own body
on the tree” (1 Pet. 2: 24), to be remembered against us no more forever. But every [post
conversion] work must come into judgment. It is not a judgment on innocence or guilt, it is
for the redeemed only - those who have built upon the one foundation, Jesus
Christ (1 Cor. 3: 11-15; Rom. 14: 10: 2 Tim. 4: 8).
The Greek word for
the Judgment Scat is bema, “a raised platform for the official judge’s seat”: in the
Grecian Games the athletes appeared before the bema to receive their laurels or
rewards. The Redeemed do not earn their redemption - it is a gift of God; but
after being redeemed, the faithful and the overcomers receive rewards for
service well-done. Some will be saved “as by fire,” others will have
an “abundant
entrance”. Some works
are represented as “wood, hay, and stubble” which, not enduring, will be
consumed. There is much that passes for Christian service that is merely human
effort, often prompted by self-righteousness, even self -aggrandizement. Only
the good and lasting works done spontaneously from the heart - even the “cup of cold water” given in humble devotion “as unto him,” shall remain and receive its eternal [Gk. aionios i.e.,
age-lasting] reward.
Throughout
the New Testament revelation of the Second Coming of Christ
we are aware of the constant admonition for vigilance and expectancy, for the
catching away of those “in Christ” will
take place unexpectedly, suddenly, and without further warning. “… take heed to yourselves
... so that day come upon you unawares” (Luke 21:
34). “And, behold, I come quickly;
and my reward
is with me ...” (Rev. 22: 12; cf. 1 Cor. 3: 14). Thus, the church, “Looking for that blessed
hope, and the glorious appearing of the
great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ” (Titus
2: 13). will be “caught up” to meet her descending Lord, to be in attendance at
the heavenly events - “The Judgment Seat of Christ,” and “the Marriage of the Lamb,” prior to Christ’s returning to the earth “... with power and great
glory.”
Following
the events at the bema or Judgment Seat of Christ, where the rewards (Greek,
stephanos - “the
victor’s crowns,” contrasted with diadema - (“the kingly crown”) are presented to the faithful and the overcoming. Another great event given in prophetic vision to the
Apostle John is the consummation of the blessed relationship between the church
and her Lord. A heavenly scene in which the church is seen in the most glorious
and exalted position ever bestowed upon once mortal creatures - John beheld
her, in the Apocalyptic vision, as the
THE MARRIAGE
OF THE LAMB
In
the New Testament the relation between Christ and the church is revealed by the
use of such figures as the Body, of which Christ is the Head: the new Creation,
of which Christ is the Bridegroom. For love He gave Himself for the church; in
love He is, even now, sanctifying the church; and the great love affair will be
joyously consummated when He shall present the church unto Himself in His own
righteousness and flawless perfection: “...
a glorious church, not
having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it
should be holy and without blemish” (Eph.
5: 25-27).
“Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the
marriage of the Lamb is come,
and his wife
hath made herself ready. And to her was granted that she should he arrayed in fine
linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of the saints” (Rev.
19: 7-8).
The
marriage, of which only these brief details are given, is an heavenly event
taking place on the eve of Christ’s return to the earth to rule and to reign in
righteousness. The Bridegroom is the Lamb, the Redeemer who “... loved the church, and gave himself for it” (Eph.
5: 25) - the Beloved Son made incarnate for our Salvation,
who in His twofold nature is now exalted, glorified and enthroned (Phil. 2: 9).
In
the Old Testament Israel was presented as the wife of Jehovah. but was
repudiated (cast off as a wife) because of her unfaithfulness (Jer.
3, Hos. 2 and 3, Ezek. 16); to be
restored, forgiven, and identified with God’s earthly glory in Christ Jesus (Ezek. 36: 17-36), but never could she be identified as a virgin or bride. In the New Testament [“the righteous acts” R.V. of regenerate members within] the
church is the Bride of Christ.* The
Marriage of the Lamb - the blessed and joyous consummation of God the Father’s
purpose “in the
beloved,” the most longed-for and
looked-for event of the Ages - is Christ, in the character of the Lamb,
gloriously acknowledging and taking unto Himself, as co-heirs of
His Throne, of His Dominion, and of His Glory, all those chosen ones [out from
amongst His church] who have been faithful in their betrothal. Paul speaks of those whom he begat in the Gospel as “espoused ... to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste
virgin to Christ” (2 Cor.
11: 2), and as the Lamb’s Bride to reign with Him and to share His blessed inheritance forever (Rom. 8: 17, [cf. Psa. 2: 8; Luke 19: 15-27; 1 Cor. 6: 9ff.; Eph. 5: 5, R.V.]). Paul is speaking of the church, the future Bride of
Christ, while in Revelation 19: 7-8 John is
announcing the marriage. Therefore it is clear, by divine
revelation, that [a part, or selection, of] the
church is in heaven prior to the glorious returning of her Lord to the earth,
having been “accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come
to pass ...” (Luke 21: 36) - the
final and terrible series of judgments to take place upon the earth preparatory
to Christ’s coming in power and with great glory as the returning, conquering
King.
[*NOTE: The “Church of God” consists of the all the regenerate -
those whom the Holy Spirit has called out of the world; but the “Bride” - on the other hand - consists only of those, whose undisclosed standard of personal righteousness (Matt. 5: 20, R.V.),
has qualified them to be amongst those of the Church, and selected to be
amongst the Bride! Therefore, the Bride
consists of a selection of righteous believers, who were previously called out from
amongst the unregenerate in the world by the Holy Spirit!]
The
time period, in which these events relating to the church take place in the
heavenlies, is referred to as “the day of Christ”
(cf. 1 Cor. 1: 8, 5: 5; 2 Cor. 1: 14; Phil. 1: 6, 10; 2: 16. Thus it relates specifically to the blessings and rewards of
the saints; while the expression “the day of the Lord,” also called “that day,” and “the great day” (occurring over
seventy times in the Old Testament and continuing to appear in the New
Testament) is definitely connected with
judgment and wrath. These passages, prophetic in nature, all “tell forth” of a period of God’s dealing with “all them that dwell on the
face of the whole earth” (Luke 21: 35), after
taking out a people “for His name.”
In
the unfolding panorama of the apocalyptic vision John beheld heaven open before
him and a voice with trumpet clarity inviting him to “Come
up hither, and I will shew thee things which
must be hereafter” (Rev. 4: 1). John is
appointed to see the glory that awaits the church upon her entrance into heaven
(“caught up” ever to be with the Lord). The church is not seen
again on earth until verses 11-16 of chapter 19: 16
describes the momentous event when Christ, accompanied by His Saints. Returns as “King of kings AND Lord of
lords.” The
intervening chapters describe the stupendous events which follow in rapid
succession upon the earth and
those who dwell upon it.
THE
MANIFESTATION OF THE ANTICHRIST
“For the mystery of iniquity doth already work: only he who now letteth will let, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that Wicked be revealed ...” (2 Thess. 2: 7-8). (This
means literally: He that hindereth the revelation of the Antichrist, will
continue to hinder until he [the Holy Spirit who now restrains] be removed.
Then shall that Lawless One be manifested.) Paul made it clear that the
consummation of Satan’s program and purpose in the earth had been held in
restraint until God’s appointed time, and only by the removal of the restrainer
can Satan’s man of the hour, “that Wicked,”
that “…man of sin
… Who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is
called God … shewing himself that he is God”
(vv. 3-4) be
revealed.
This sinister world figure is personified as “the Beast” in Revelation
13.
The
[obedient members of the] church,
as “the salt of
the earth,” and “the light of the world” is a great restraining influence in this corrupt and
lawless but an “influence” would not be
adequate to hold back the forces of evil; the indwelling Spirit of God, the
third person of the blessed Trinity, is the empowering, personal presence that
hinders the program and purpose of Satan in the world. The Holy Spirit is
resident within the [obedient
members (Acts 5: 32;
1 John 3: 24.
Cf.
Rev. 3: 10, R.V.) of the] church, the body of born-again Believers who are,
indeed, “the
With the Rapture
of the [“accounted worthy to
escape” (Luke 21: 36, A.V. members of the] Church from the earthly scene, and the manifestation of the
Antichrist, soon to dominate the world scene, ominous clouds begin to gather that portend a time of unparalled
trouble for those who remain upon the earth:
(1) The
Jewish nation - individual Jews who
have accepted Christ as their Messiah and Redeemer become the “New Creatures” and will be translated [beforehand, and along] with the body of believers, the true [‘called out’ members
from the] church, in which there is neither Jew or Gentile but
all one in Christ (Gal. 3: 28).
(2) The
Gentile Nations - all unregenerate humanity (unregenerate,
meaning “not renewed in heart”) remaining at
enmity with God (2 Thess.
1: 8).
The same holds true of individual Gentiles accepting Jesus Christ as Saviour and
Lord in this present age, they too will be “caught up together,” with all [obedient] born-again
believers before the Antichrist
is revealed (2 Thess.
2: 7-8, Rev. 3: 10). The
Apostle John in his epistle to the great family of believers, wrote, “Little children ... ye have heard that antichrist shall come ...” (1 John 2: 18). The subject was not unfamiliar to God’s people, it
is fully foreshadowed in the writings of the Old Testament prophets; our Lord
Himself, forewarned of the Antichrist
and his deceptiveness; the Apostles Paul and John, as well as many other
New Testament writers clearly wrote of the person and dominion of the
Antichrist and of the culminating blasphemy which shall spell his doom.
There
is no mistaking the identity of this coming sinister world power; Revelation 13: 1-10 is a description of his political sovereignty
over the cosmos. His complete
portrait is spread throughout the Scriptures, both Old and New. He is the “little horn,” the rising world power (Dan. 7:
8, 24, 25); the “king of dark countenance”
(8: 23-25); “the prince that
shall come ... the desolator” (9: 24-27); “the abomination of
desolation” (Matt. 24: 15); “the man of sin” (2 Thess. 2: 3-9). Many other references personify the world’s last
tyrannical ruler, and the last Satan-dominated world system - doomed to
destruction when the cup of iniquity is full.
As
the Holy Trinity is the embodiment of Godliness, so the embodiment of Evil is
manifested in a Counterfeit trinity.
(1 ) The Dragon, that old serpent, the devil (Rev. 12: 9).
(2) The Antichrist, the
blasphemous leader of the last, Satan-inspired World order (Rev. 13: 1-10: 2 Thess. 2: 2-13).
(3) The False Prophet, the third
person of the evil trinity, the culmination of all ecclesiastical heresies (Rev. 13: 11-18), who by
his deceptive propaganda and satanic “marvels” will
cause the whole world (the [obedient
and righteous members of the] church having been taken out of the world) to worship
“the dragon” - Satan, and “the beast” - the
Antichrist (Rev. 13: 4).
THE LIMITED
CAREER OF THE ANTICHRIST
The
Antichrist’s career, at first subtle and deceptive and later blasphemous,
tyrannical, and utterly possessed and endued with satanic power and authority,
is limited to the short period of seven years. A short and limited period, yet
according to the divine prediction of the Son of man Himself, an unprecedented
period of tyranny and tribulation; “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world” (Matt. 24: 21).
The
seven years of the Antichrist’s career synchronizes with the final and
concluding week (seven years) of Daniel’s great prophecy of the “seventy weeks.” As foreseen in the prophecy the beginning of the
final week is marked by the signing of a treaty or covenant between a powerful
world figure, described as “the prince that shall come” (9:
24-27; John 5: 43), and a large representation of the Jewish nation who,
in accepting the treaty as a league of friendship and freedom from persecution,
will be encouraged to return to their homeland to rebuild and restore the glory
of Israel’s past. Quickly rising to a place of fanatical popularity and power,
seduced by the genius of his leadership, the whole world will, actually,
worship the coming ruler of the cosmos saying, “... Who is like unto the beast [the political world power]? who is able to make war with him?” (Rev. 13: 4). Thus, this pseudo-Messiah will be universally
acclaimed as the supernatural answer to the troublesome problems of the present
desperately inadequate world system. “And through his policy also he shall cause craft to prosper
in his hand” [a great wave of
deceptive prosperity! “... and by peace ...”
(the old political propaganda of “peace and safety”) many will be lured to destruction (Dan. 8: 25, cf. 1 Thess. 5: 3).
In
the study of the division of the “seventy weeks”
of Daniel 9: 24-27, we
summarized as follows: The first sixty-nine weeks were unquestionably fulfilled
prophecy (past history) terminating with the presentation of “Messiah [Christ] the Prince,” and His “Cutting off” -
His Crucifixion. This decisive act of rejection was followed by a break in the
continuity of God’s dealings with Israel - a gap, an interim, an indefinite
period of time (already reaching over nineteen hundred years) during which it
is God’s purpose to “take out a people for his name” - “the church of the
firstborn which are written in heaven.”
The final and concluding week (of seven
years) still awaits future fulfilment.
Let
us examine the events embraced within the limits of the final prophetic week: “And he [the prince that shall come] shall confirm the covenant with many for one
week [seven
years] and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease,
and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make
it desolate, even until the consummation,
and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate
[desolator]” (Daniel 9: 27; Matt. 24: 15).
“In the midst of the week” is three
and a half years after the confirmation of the treaty with the people of Israel; the mask of humanitarianism, by which the Antichrist
will rise to the pinnacle of world acclaim, will be dropped and he will be
revealed in his true, undisguised satanic character - the very embodiment of
evil, tyranny and blasphemy, “with all power and signs and lying wonders” that shall characterize the course of his satanic
authority. Six times, in various ways, the duration of his reign of terror is
declared, in both the Old and New Testament, to be three and one half years, or as otherwise stated, “forty and two months” (Rev.
13: 5); “a time and times
and the dividing of time” (Dan. 7: 25), “a thousand two
hundred and threescore days” (Rev.
12: 6).
Deluded
[* NOTE: This temple will be built in
THE GREAT
TRIBULATION
“For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be” (Matt. 24:
21).
While
it is true “that
we must through much tribulation enter into the
Throughout
the Scriptures Old and a period of unprecedented tribulation, in the nature of
wrath, judgment, and divine indignation, before the end-time [manifested] glory is foreseen and foretold, in the words of the
prophet Joel, as “the great and the terrible
day of the Lord” (2: 31). In the
apocalyptic vision it is declared, “… the great day of
his [Jehovah’s] wrath
come; and who
shall be able to stand?” (Rev. 6: 17). Chapters 6 through 12 show the blasts of
judgment and the fierce wrath of God “which fall upon
the wicked and apostate” world. When the blasphemy of man and the wrath
of God reach their intensity, kings and mighty men, rich and great, slave and
freedman, guilty and terrified seek to hide in the caves and rocks of
mountains, crying, “Fallon on us, and hide us from
the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and
hide us from the wrath of the Lamb” (Rev.
6: 16).
The
period of great tribulation declared “to come upon all the world” is
specifically a time of unparalled tribulation and judgment upon the Jewish
nation (previously referred to as “the time of Jacobs
[
Refer to this same chapter for the consummation of the
Judgment of the living [unable
to “escape,” and together with the], unregenerate Gentile nations (Matt. 25: 31-46; Joel 3: 2). In the
apocalyptic vision the vials of God’s wrath are poured directly from heaven
upon the rebellious Christ-rejecting world before the judgment scene of Matthew 25: 31-46 (the final sifting of the nations). The question has
been asked, “How will any survive the unleashed fury
of the wrath of Almighty God (as set forth in the apocalyptic judgments) to be
in attendance at this scene of the first judicial act when Christ shall sit
upon the throne of His Glory?” It must be remembered of that short but
terrible period of God’s outpoured wrath: “And in those
days shall men seek death, and shall not find it:
and shall desire to die, and death shall flee from them” (Rev.
9: 6).
The
coming time of “great
tribulation” which Christ Himself
declared unprecedented in all history past and future, is clearly presented as
the judgment of the living earth-dwellers. designated by Christ as “the world”
(cosmos,
the God-opposing, Christ-rejecting world order), and the time of
What a blessed comfort to know that the church is not
of this world, neither is she a part of the cosmos (world order,
or arrangement), nor will she ever be brought into condemning judgement (John 15: 18-19, 17: 14, 5: 24; Rom. 8: 1). “For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to obtain salvation by our Lord JESUS
Christ, Who died for us, that, whether we wake or sleep we should live together with him. Wherefore
comfort yourselves together …” (1 Thess. 5: 9-11).* There could be no comfort for
God’s redeemed and justified believers in
looking forward to “the
great tribulation” to purge
the church of its blemishes, as some
inconsistently and erroneously suggest** - the mutual comfort of born-again believers is “…
being now
justified by his [Christ’s] blood, we shall be saved from [the] wrath through
him” (Rom. 5: 9).
[*Compare with 1 Thess.
1: 3, 5-7, 9b, for an accurate description of those being
addressed: - a commendation from the Apostle Paul, which could not be an
accurate description for disobedient and self-righteous regenerate believers “in Christ” today!
**.The suggestion that the collective pronoun “WE”
includes all who are regenerate, and that they “shall
be saved from wrath” is unacceptable! God will never ignore disobedient
people, or treat them in exactly same way as obedientbelievtrs!
God is not a Respecter of persons in Judgment! “But wilt thou know,
O vain man, that faith apart from works is barren?
Was not Abraham our father Justified by WORKS, in that he offered up Isaac his son on the altar. … Ye see that by WORKS a man is justified, and not only be faith:” (Jas. 2: 20, 24, R.V.).
“What doth it
profit, by
brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have
not works? Can that faith save him?... “Even so faith, if it have not works, is dead in itself … “But
wilt thou know, O vain man, that faith apart from
works is barren? Was not Abraham our father JUSTIFIED BY WORKS, and by WORKS was his faith made perfect?…”
(James 2: 14, 17, 20, R.V.).
Accountability
truths and conditional promises of God cannot be ignored
without suffering the dire consequences of such actions! Nor can we ignore the near
and far
contexts in any passage in Holy Scripture in our studies! The Word of God makes
this perfectly clear, when we see who are being addressed.
All disobedient, immoral, and apostate
believers, “in Christ” will not
qualify to escape the coming “wrath through him”!
They will, if alive at the time, most certainly be purged of their ‘blemishes’ during the great tribulation! See Ezekiel Chapter 33,
and compare with Num. 16: 20-35, R.V.]
Because thou hast kept the word of my patience. I will also thee
from the hour of temptation [trial], which shall come
upon all the world, to try
them that dwell upon the earth” (Rev. 3:
10).
The
Spirit
of God alone could have guided John, the revelator, to
use the exact language in keeping with the meaning and hope of the entire context. He used the Greek verb tereso, “will keep,” and
the preposition ek, “from,” and ek tes horas, “from the hour”; not en tes horas, “in the hour.” Thus the promise was not only immunity from the trial
itself but from “the hour,” the time Period of God’s judgment upon the world (cosmos) of wicked men. The
comfort of which Paul speaks is clearly associated with the Second Coming of
Christ; it is the revelation of the fact that the - [“accounted worthy to
escape” only (Luke 21: 36, A.V.) members of the] - church will be “caught up” ever to be with the
Lord, before the hour of trial which shall come upon
all the world to try them that dwell upon the earth. The true believer
is not a dweller but a stranger and
pilgrim on the earth (Heb. 11: 13).
Referring
back to the infamous career of the Antichrist the diabolical change in his
public image is manifested “in the midst of the week,” that is, at the beginning of the latter half of his
overall reign of seven years. The change in his cunning strategy and exercise
of satanic authority is marked by his violation of the seven-year-covenant made
with the Jewish people, the desecration of the [soon to be built]
THE CASTING
DOWN OF SATAN
This
bold move of Satan’s man on earth coincides with a momentous event to take
place in the heavens - the casting out the Devil and his angels from his
headquarters of operation “in high places”
(“in the heavenlies”), where (since being cast
down from his first estate) he rules as “prince of the aerial regions” (Eph. 6: 12). He was “cast out into the earth
... having great wrath, because
he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Rev.
12: 9-12). A great
woe is pronounced to the inhabitants of the earth, for Satan is still
determined to destroy any remaining mortals who have had a past or present
relationship with God. Thus
The
succeeding events in the devil-driven career of earth’s 1ast despotic monster
move speedily toward the great consummation: the violent overthrow of the
present, Satan-dominated world order, and the doom of the Satanic trinity at
the Second Coming of Christ which ushers in a glorious [messianic] era when
heaven shall rule upon earth.
While
the whole prophecy points to the glorious climax of end time events, and beyond
the bounds of Time into the perfect and eternal ages, it is sometimes difficult
to follow the successive events and dogmatically assert their certain
continuity before the “great and terrible”
aspect of “the
day of the Lord” reaches the
climax of its fury. Jesus predicted that “wars and rumours wars” would be characteristic of this present age (Matt. 24: 6); “the time of the end,” however, would be marked by intensified universal conflict after a
short period of false security and superficial peace (2 Thess.
5: 3; Dan. 8: 25).
This
prediction is reflected in the great prophecy of Jeremiah 25, which
is more far-reaching in its scope than the invasion of the land by King
Nebuchadnezzar - the conquest which was divinely decreed to mark the
beginning of “the times of the Gentiles” (Luke 21:
24).
The long period of world history which began with the Babylonian captivity of
In the latitude which must be given to the
interpretation of the continuity of the stupendous events of the end-time (many
of the most able and revered Bible scholars are at variance in their exposition
of the apocalyptic visions) it seems
evident to the author that before this universal submission to the sweeping
powers given to the final and absolute world ruler (Rev.
17: 12-13) there will first be an alignment
of nations opposing
or, at least, independent of the final Satanic strategy - the mad, tyrannical
and blasphemous rampage of the Antichrist which is destined to climax the
lost three and one-half years of Gentile world history.
THE INVASION
OF
In Ezekiel chapters 38
and 39 we read of an invasion of
The
objective of the invasion of Palestine is clearly stated: “To take a spoil, and to take a prey; to turn
thine hand upon the desolate places that are now inhabited, and upon the people
[the Jews], that are gathered
out of the nations, which have gotten cattle and goods, that dwell [at
this hour under the precarious treaty with their deceptive benefactor the
Antichrist] in the midst of the
land” (Ezek.
38: 12). Thus, “it shall be in the latter days” that
Many
Bible expositors seem to confuse the invasion of
The
distinction between the two conflicts can be clearly seen by comparing the
participants, the objective and, the end result. First,
the invasion described in Ezekiel 38 and 39 is by armies from the North (of
And so
the record of God’s intervention reads: “And it shall come to pass at the same time when God shall
come against the
There is no doubt that the great northern power is
satanically motivated, God using the motivation and the objective as an
instrument to chasten Israel for past transgression (Dan.
9: 24),
and for the covenant made with Satan’s man (even as Jesus prophesied): “... if another shall come in
his own name, him ye will receive” (John 5: 43) rather than remembering their longstanding, but
broken, covenant with Jehovah. The Prophet Isaiah’s words of warning to Judah regarding impending
invasions and covenants surely carried their meaning to the far horizon of the
consummation of Israel’s transgression: “And your covenant with death shall be disannulled, and your agreement with hell [Sheol] shall not stand; when the
overflowing scourge shall pass through, then ye shall be trodden down by it” (28:
18).
God
invariably used human instruments such as hostile nations and rulers of old to
punish and discipline His people
Thus,
the Beast (so called as symbolical of tyrannical world power) furthers the
plight of
THE
With the great northern power completely
frustrated (by divine intervention) in its attempt to utterly despoil and
plunder the strategic land of Palestine and its people, the Antichrist ( now
the supreme ruler of “all kindreds, and tongues, and nations”) furthers the
campaign (Greek, polemos - “war”) by commanding the kings
of the earth to have one sole objective: To make war against Israel’s God. The reign of the earth’s last despotic tyrant and
This battle, unlike all other battles in history, is
not an array of nation against nation, race against race; it is the culmination
of the God-declared enmity of Genesis
3: 15
- “the seed of the serpent,” Antichrist and his armies; and “the seed of the woman,” Christ, and those that are His. Thus, the opposing
forces in the great battle are clearly determined.
THE COMING
OF CHRIST “IN POWER AND WITH
GREAT
GLORY”
“And I [John, the revelator,] saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat
upon him was called Faithful and True, and in
righteousness he
doth judge and make war. His eyes were as a
flame of fire, and on his head were many crowns [diadems]; and he had a name written, that
no man knew, but he
himself. And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name
is called The Word of God. And the armies which were
in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and
clean. And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that
with it he should smite the nations: and he
shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he
treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God. And he hath upon his vesture and upon his thigh, a name
written, KING
OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS” (Rev. 19: 11-16; cf. 2 Thess. 1: 8-9). “And I saw the beast, and the kings of the earth, and
their armies, gathered together to make war
against him that sat on the horse, and against
his army” (Rev. 19: 19).
The
heavenly armies, accompanied by hosts of angels, are not angelic beings but
glorified saints. They are “arrayed in fine linen,
clean and white,” which is declared to be “the righteousness of the saints.” There is no
mistaking their identity; they are the ransomed, raptured “church of the firstborn,” “The Bride of the Lamb”
(Rev. 19:
7-8), now returning to the earthly scene with her Lord as
Warrior, Judge and King (11-16). They need no bucklers, no shields or armour for,
with glorified bodies like unto her Lord, earth’s carnal weapons can harm them
no more (1 John 3:
2).
The
coming conquering King of kings rides in regal majesty upon a white horse. In
the day of his humiliation, He came to
No
details of the battle are given, for there is no
battle! We are simply assured that “the Lamb shall overcome them
...” (Rev. 17:
14).
The result of the mad, Satan-infuriated attempt to thwart “he whose right it is
...” to have dominion, is also
determined. The sovereignty of the earth, already decreed in
the mind and purpose of God, is settled forever before three worlds, Heaven,
Earth and Hell, by the complete overthrow of the usurper’s kingdom of darkness;
the establishment of God’s kingdom of righteousness; followed by the glorious
millennial reign of earth’s Rightful King (Dan.
7: 14; Ps. 2: 6; 72; 1 Tim. 6: 15; Luke 1: 32-33)
THE DOOM OF
THE SATANIC TRINITY
“And the beast was taken ...” (Rev.
19: 20),
“... that Wicked [One]” whom the Apostle Paul declared, “... the
Lord shall consume with the spirit [pneuma, “breath”]
of his mouth and shall destroy with the brightness of
his coming” (2 Thess 2: 8). The Greek word parousia, translated “coming,” denote! personal
presence - the literal, bodily appearing of Christ. The word epiphaneia, translated “brightness,” is
literally “appearing” - emphasizing the truth that Christ will actually appear, be seen and His glory will be manifested (defined in
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon as “... that illustrious return
from heaven to earth ...”)
The
Antichrist, earth’s last and most infamous despot, is first in the coming
judgment to feel the consuming revelation (Greek, apocalupsis) of The
King of kings, who as
Warrior-Judge cometh “in righteousness to make war.” In our own generation the bloody holocaust of World
War I was designated “the war to end war,” but
soon the earth “staggered
and reeled like a drunken man” under
the throes of another blood bath, unequalled in barbarism and lust for world
conquest. But, in the words of Jesus, “the end is not yet” - not until the Prince of Peace shall come in “righteousness to make war.” Such a statement sounds
paradoxical, but this war, the
divine intent to meet the Satanic trio with their God-defiant armies in open
and conclusive conflict, is the only war in the blood-soaked history of the
world in which the outcome will Abolish war forever in the earth by God's Sacred
Promise: “... nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more” (Isa. 2: 4).
We
read, “... the Beast was taken ... and cast alive into the
lake of fire.” The self-acclaimed
god whose worshipers held to be invincible - the head and leader of the
God-defiant world order, and commander-in-chief of earth’s accumulated military
might, energized with all satanic power and authority - is “taken”
and none can help him. He is cast down never to rise again. And with him, meeting the same inescapable fate, the
False Prophet who worked satanic miracles in his presence - the epitome and
personification of all ecclesiastical evil, heresy, and blasphemy. Named the False Prophet because he caused deluded men and nations
to worship the world’s false Messiah, and by his satanic “wonders”
stirred a blinded unbelieving world to open conflict against God and His
Christ. “These both were cast alive into a lake of fire burning with
brimstone” (Rev. 19: 20), symbolized in the Old Testament as Tophet, meaning “place of burning” (Isa. 30: 33); the “everlasting fire, prepared for
the devil and his angels” (Matt. 25: 41); the final Gehenna, Hell, the place of the eternally
damned, into which none have yet entered (except these two in their, yet
future, appointed time), until the final judgment of the wicked dead at the
great White Throne (Rev. 19: 20; 20: 11-15), which follows the devil’s final doom and destiny (20: 20).
In contrast to the description of the fate of the northern
invaders - that even seven months shall be required by the people of the land
to bury the dead (Ezekiel 39: 12) - the fate of the demon-inspired armies of the
kings of the earth at Armageddon is recorded with terrible brevity: “And the remnant were slain
with the sword of him that sat upon the horse, which
sword proceeded out of his mouth: and all the
fowls were filled with their flesh”
(Rev. 19:
21) - a banquet indeed for the hovering
vultures!
THE BINDING
OF SATAN
With
the two infamous leaders consigned to their everlasting doom, the flesh of the
slain remnant to become carrion for the fowls of the air, there is yet another
malignant power behind the mad conspiracy to take up arms against the King of
kings - the age-old deceiver of men and nations, with whom God proceeds to deal
in righteous retribution. The four names ascribed to him characterize all of
the aspects of his evil being. He is called “the dragon, that old serpent ... the Devil,
and Satan …” (Rev.
20: 2). “The dragon,” as
he is symbolized in Scriptures, is the prime instigator, the motivating
manipulator behind the world’s godless political power. “That old serpent” is a familiar characterization, for the serpent’s
trail is clearly revealed from the beginning of human
history. The title “devil” (Greek, diaholos) means “slanderer,”
thus, he is designated “liar, and the father of it
[the lie]” (John 8: 44).
“Satan”
is a Hebrew word meaning “adversary, one to lie in wait”; hence, “the snares of the devil.”
Taking up again the theme of the doom of the satanic
trinity - with the Antichrist and the False Prophet consigned alive to “the lake of fire,” the armies of the deluded kings of the earth slain at
Armageddon - God now deals with the principal character, the mastermind behind
the world’s blasphemous madness (cf. Psalm 2).
Satan, bent on thwarting “the seed of the woman” from becoming “King of all the earth,” is seized and bound and cast into the pit,
which is sealed over him. “Then I [John the
revelator] saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key of the bottomless
pit and a great chain. And he seized the dragon,
that ancient serpent, who
is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a
thousand years, and threw him into the pit,
and shut it and sealed it over him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years were ended” (Rev. 20: 1-3), R.S.V.).
He is “laid hold upon”
(Greek, ekratese denotes “quick seizure” by
strength and force), for although Satan is a malignant “spirit,” he is also a personal devil. The key and the chain by
which he is bound (even if, or though, symbolical) signify the sovereignty of
God over the denizens of the pit and the nether regions. By one angel (many
eminent scholars believe that this mighty angel is none other than the Lord
Jesus Christ Himself), the devil is bound and cast into the “bottomless pit” (Greek, abysos) - denoting the abode of evil spirits, but not the final place of punishment.
Thus ends
the present Satan-dominated world system. The earth, at last, shall be free from Satan’s sinister presence and
influence for a thousand years. It only remains to tell of the devil’s final
perdition, “… when
the thousand years are expired.”
(Continued below)
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THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
THE
MILLENNIAL
BY ALFRED
THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY No. 9]
-------
The millennium which follows the
binding and imprisonment of Satan will be the period of the full
manifestation of the glory of the Lord Jesus Christ. The glory of Messiah’s
mediatorial reign is characterized by the key words Righteousness and Peace -
the realization of the kingdom covenanted to David and revealed to the prophet
Daniel as a kingdom which the God of heaven shall set up, which shall never be
destroyed [as long as this
“earth” remains] (Dan. 2:
44; 7: 13-14; [(Rev. 21: 1, R.V.]). All of
the beneficent blessings (considered under the heading, “The King and the Kingdom in Old Testament Prophecy,”
embracing the subjects: the earth, human life, the animal creation, universal
peace, etc.) will be fully realized in the coming millennial
Messianic Kingdom.
God’s
covenant people, Israel, no longer separated and scattered, are regathered,
restored, and regenerated; “... my people shall dwell in a peaceable habitation, and in sure dwellings ...” (Isa. 32:
18),
and through the restored and favoured nation, because of the glorious [manifested] presence of
the King, “... shall
all flesh come to worship before me, saith the Lord” (Isa. 66: 23). The Prince of Peace (upon whose shoulders, alone, the
government shall rest) shall make wars to cease; hence, there shall be an
“abundance of peace so long as the moon endureth” (Ps. 72: 7). The glorious realization of
the Old Testament kingdom prophecies means: the earth restored to its Edenic
beauty: man no longer the vulnerable target of Satanic onslaught; the wild
beast ceasing to devour; the poisonous reptile no longer fearful and repulsive
to man, who, at last, will be free from the ravages of disease and decay - the
death process which the Apostle Paul calls “the bondage of corruption.” In this
glorious age universal righteousness shall triumph in
the earth, and “The
Kingdom of God” shall be
manifested in visible glory.
The
Apostle John speaks six times of a “thousand years”
in relation to the literal reign of Christ on earth. Before righteousness and
peace can triumph, however, Satan, with his evil influence, must
be removed from the earthly scene; thus, Satan is bound and imprisoned
for the duration of Messiah’s millennial reign (Rev.
20: 1-3).
SATAN LOOSED
“And when the
thousand years are expired,
Satan will be loosed out of his prison” (Rev. 20: 7).
At
the end of the thousand years of peace on earth under the direct and righteous
administration of the “King of kings,” Satan is loosed
“for a little
season,” and immediately his evil influence
is manifested among the nations. He quickly fans the age-old flame of revolt
against God and His Christ. It must be remembered that the [non-resurrected
and immortal] subjects of the Millennial Kingdom are not “glorified” beings as are the raptured church, and the Saints of
the First Resurrection; therefore those born during the Millennium will have
the same Adamic nature as their fathers, but without the external source of
temptation - the evil power of satanic suggestion. While Satan is confined to the pit, Man is as a keg of dynamite without
the spark to set it off. But with Satan loosed from his prison, the spark of
rebellious hate touches off the 1ast desperately mad attempt to dethrone the
King, seize the Kingdom, and still defeat the Divine Purpose - the established
mediatorial Kingdom of God on earth, under His own sovereign rule and
direction, exercised through His divinely chosen representative, Messiah-King! But persistent rebellion against God is death! His answer to
the rebel’s last defiance is told in one short but
terribly conclusive sentence: “... fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them” (Rev.
20: 9).
THE ETERNAL
DOOM OF SATAN
Why
doesn’t God destroy Satan at His Coming in glory
instead of sealing him in the pit for a thousand years? God is omnipotent, it
is true, but not only God’s power is challenged by the Adversary, but all of
God’s attributes: His justice, holiness, righteousness, His long-suffering
mercy and undying love all have claims against the devil and must be perfectly
and eternally vindicated.
The
purpose in the binding and loosing of Satan is the final display of the
depravity of the human heart apart from the sovereign grace of God. With the
last rebellion put down, and the earth (for the first time in human history)
populated with the righteous only, the great archenemy, utterly and eternally
foiled and defeated in his blasphemous ambition to be “like the most high” (Isa. 14: 14), now meets his final and everlasting perdition. The
long delayed sentence is swiftly executed. He is “cast into the lake of fire” already prepared for him (and, sad to say, his blinded
and deluded followers: Rev. 20: 10, 15, [cf. Isa. 14: 14, 15]). Thus ends
the last rebellion of a creature against his Creator.
THE JUDGMENT
OF THE WICKED DEAD
Both
the Old and the New Testament declare a day of judgment for every individual
human being that ever lived and died, from the beginning of the world unto the
end. “And it is
appointed unto men once to die, but after this
the judgment” (Heb. 9: 27). This divine decree is irrevocable in nature, and
will determine the [millennial and] eternal
destiny of every mortal soul; either to everlasting blessedness or everlasting
[age-lasting]
punishment. There is a “resurrection of damnation [condemnation]” (John 5: 29), and as we are assured, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in
Christ Jesus ...” (
In
Revelation 20: 5,
“the rest of the dead [those having no part in the First Resurrection] lived not again [were not resurrected] “until the thousand years were finished,” then to stand before the Judgment Throne; although
physically alive (resurrected) they are called the dead, having never been made
alive, spiritually, “in Christ”
Jesus. The basis of their judgment is the rejection of the only Saviour and
Mediator. God’s own Son, who loved them and died to save them from sin, death,
and the judgment they now must face. “The books” are
opened; these are the records of all the deeds of the unregenerate [and the remaining regenerate, who had no part in “the first resurrection,”] (those who died in their sins). A sobering thought,
indeed, but when a sinner turns from his sin with a repentant heart and accepts
the Salvation made possible by the sacrificial death of Jesus Christ, who took
upon Himself the sins of the world, the sinner’s guilty record is blotted out
of “the books,” and his name is written in “the book” - “the Book of Life.” The Book of Life is the record of names not deeds.
In the apocalyptic vision, as God swung back the
curtain that veils the future and eternal state and gave John, the Seer, a
glimpse of the gathering crescendo of divine wrath, the final and eternal judgment,
John recorded the awesome consummation of the scene before him in one terrible
sentence of divine finality: “ … whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast
into the lake of fire” (Rev. 20: 15). Such is the eternal doom and destiny of “the lost.”
THE END OF
DEATH AND HADES
After
the final perdition of Satan and the resurrected, wicked dead, John beheld (in
the prophetic vision of last and final things) “Then Death and Hades were thrown into the lake
of fire” (Rev. 20: 14). R.S.V. Hades, the place of departed, [i.e., regenerate
and] unregenerated human spirits between
death and the resurrection judgment,
having “delivered
up the dead which were in them” (verse 13), ceased to be. Hence,
after this, there is no more physical death or place of departed spirits [or
disembodied “souls” (Acts
2: 27, R.V.)]. With the destruction of Hades and the last enemy,
death (the direct product of sin), the purpose of Christ’s
Mediatorial reign will have been fulfilled. The
total abolition of “death and hades” is the last act of our Lord, as
mediatorial King, in preparation of the perfect and eternal state. When all hostility and rebellion against the sovereign
government of God is subdued and divine authority (as God purposed it in the
beginning of earth’s history) is restored, the mediatorial form and purpose of
Christ’s
“Then cometh the end ... For he [Christ] must reign,
till he hath put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death” (1
Cor. 15: 24-26). “Then cometh the end” does not mean the end of the Kingdom, but the termination of the
mediatorial aspect of the
ETERNITY - (TIME) - ETERNITY
The mergence of the mediatorial aspect and purpose of the
Kingdom of God into the Universal and Everlasting - from the temporal into the
infinite and eternal - described in this revealing Scriptural passage: “Then cometh the end when he [Christ]
shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the
Father … that God may be all in all,” (1 Cor. 15: 24, 28).
This
does not end the regal glory of our Lord, for we are assured
that “… he
[Christ] shall reign forever and ever” (Rev. 11: 15). No longer from the millennial “throne of his glory,” but in the unity of the
Godhead, from whence He came. He shall reign
with the Father as the Eternal Son in the everlasting, indissoluble union of “the throne of God
and of the Lamb” (Rev. 22: 1).
(Continued below)
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THE SECOND COMING OF CHRIST
THE PERFECT
AND
OF THE
BY ALFRED
THOMPSON EADE
[STUDY No. 10]
-------
The consummation of the apocalyptic vision, revealed to
the Apostle John, carries us out beyond finite understanding. We are on the
threshold of the infinite looking out over the eternal vista of God’s glorious “tomorrow.” The seeming end is actually the beginning. God lets
the curtain fall on Time, and all things past, and announces the soul-thrilling
declaration that the whole disturbed universe has been
hoping, waiting, longing, living, dying to hear: “Behold,
I make all things new” (Rev. 12: 5).
The
Scriptures do not reveal in detail the surpassing glory of the Perfect and
NEW HEAVENS
AND A NEW EARTH
“…wherein the heavens being on fire shall be dissolved, and the elements shall melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according
to his promise, look for new heavens and a new earth, wherein
dwelleth righteousness” (2 Pet. 3: 12-13).
In preparation for the perfect and eternal state every
trace the aftermath of discord in the universe, every realm associated with the
ruin and spoilation of Sin, shall be purged by the refining fire of
purification (made anew); that is, “the destruction of the present order being for the sake of
that which is to usher in a new and better state” (Cambridge Bible). The idea is transition not extinction. Peter writes
that the world (cosmos) once “perished”; as a
planet, however, it remained and still exists, even as God decreed, “Who laid the foundations of
the earth, that it should not be moved forever”
(Ps. 104:
5; cf. Eccles.
1: 4).
“The new heavens” and “the new
earth” designate the respective spheres of the “Saved,”
both the heavenly and the earthly peoples of God. In the Millennial
Kingdom of heavenly rule on [this
restored (Rom. 8:
19-21)] earth righteousness “reigned,” in
the future and Eternal State
righteousness shall “dwell” in perfect
harmony with what God is
- “All in All” unto “the ages of the ages.”
Many
scholars have tried to explain the process of transition and change from the
Millennial Kingdom to the Eternal State of the dwellers of the New Earth; but
to explain how God will care for the righteous subjects of Christ’s earthly
kingdom during the great purging conflagration described in 2 Peter 3: 11
is futile when God is silent. We do not ask how He kept “three Hebrew children” from being consumed in the
fiery furnace; we rejoice in the assuring witness of omnipotence, omnipresence,
and omniscience - “Nothing
is too hard for God.”
THE NEW
JERUSALEM
“And I John saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming
down from God out of heaven,
prepared as a
bride adorned for her husband” (Rev. 21:
2).
The
New Jerusalem is that celestial city which Christ has to prepare (John 14: 1-3), to be the eternal home of His glorified
Saints, the fulfilment of the promise of the ages of an “enduring city” built and prepared by “the author and finisher of our faith.” The city is called “the Bride, the Lamb’s Wife.”
A city is only a city in the sense of those who inhabit it. So
it is that the heavenly city is personified as the Lamb’s Bride because of the
ransomed, redeemed and glorified ones who dwell within its Jasper walls. The
description of the beauty of its arrangement together with the immortal
occupants, make it both “a city” and “a people”: “... the bride, the Lamb’s wife
... that great city, the
holy
The
glorified Saints are the dwellers of the celestial city. While
Bible scholars differ in their conclusions as to the position of the destiny of
the Old Testament Saints in redemptive history, there are many passages of
Scripture that clearly identify them with the occupants of the heavenly city,
the New Jerusalem. Hebrews
11 is a testimony of the fruits of faith
in them of old time. They looked for “...
a city which hath foundations whose builder and maker
is God” (verse 10). “These all died in faith, not
having received the promises,* but having seen them
afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and
confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (verse 13). Hebrews 12:
23 speaks of “the general assembly and church [ekklesia. [out-calling] “congregation”]
of the firstborn: [implying: those “in” Christ] just men made perfect” (implying those “of” Christ,
namely, “the
saved of the ages”), even as
Joseph of Arimathaea is said to have been “a just man” (as
were many Godly Israelites in their day), “...
who also himself waited
for the
[* That is, they have not yet received the Millennial inheritance, or experienced any Eternal
promises of God! These promises of God are awaiting the return of Christ and
Resurrection “from the dead” in “Hades”! This has not occurred! (Luke 16: 30, 23, Acts 7: 4, 5, R.V.).
See also John 3:
13; 14: 3; Acts 2: 27, 34; 2 Tim. 2: 28, R.V.]
The
Seer, John, however, speaks of “a new heaven and a
new earth” to designate the respective spheres of the Saved -
both the heavenly and the earthly peoples of God (which in the eternal state
are one universal, everlasting kingdom). The unveiled
presence of God and the Lamb radiating in and from the Holy City shall illumine
not only “the new
heavens and earth,” but the new earth’s happy and holy dwellers,
who shall never cease to exist or to possess the earth, as God purposed when He
created man a living soul and prepared the earth in Edenic beauty for man’s
dominion and habitation.
Both
Man’s immortality and dominion were lost in the first Adam, but gloriously
regained in the Second Adam, the Man Christ Jesus. Dominion shall be realized
by the overthrow and utter destruction of Satan’s kingdom of darkness at
Christ’s Second Coming; and Death, even now defeated in the glorious
Resurrection of our Lord, shall be eternally destroyed and abolished at the end
of Christ’s Millennial reign. In the consummation we see
a great company spoken of as “the nations” “... By its light
shall the nations walk ...”
(R.S.V.), that is, by the light and glory of the
ALL THINGS
NEW
“And he that sat upon
the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. ... It is done.
I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and
the end” (Rev.
21:
5-6).
The
volume of the “old” is eternally closed. The cycle of Time, begun in the
Book of Beginnings, when Sin disrupted God’s eternal purpose of Holy and
Eternal Communion, has fulfilled the great circle and the course of history
ends where it began -
When
God declares “all things new” the perfect age is in its infancy. The
The
other company whom John
beholds upon the threshold of the Eternal Ages - those with whom God
tabernacles on the New Earth, whom He declares “His people” and He “their God” (21: 3-4) - gain all that Adam lost: the Earth again as Eden:
Holy Communion with their Maker: Immortality, for death is no more; and in some
manner, veiled to our finite understanding, it appears that while the fruit of “the Tree of Life” is the rewarding joy of those who dwell within the
celestial city - the “leaves of the tree,” as John records, “were for the healing of the nations” (22: 2). Not healing in the sense of
association with sickness, for the curse is no more, but the life-sustaining
preservation of the blessedness of immortal life on the New Earth as in Eden in the
beginning; access to “the Tree of Life” for eternal generations was
God’s Plan, had not Sin given birth to Death, life’s mortal enemy (James 1: 15; Ezek. 18: 4).
The idea of eternal generations for
living nations in their natural, flesh and blood (unglorified) bodies, as
decreed by Christ from “the throne of his glory” at the Judgment of the Nations: “…
the righteous into life eternal” (Matt. 25: 46) is far
beyond our understanding, other than to rejoice in the knowledge that in
preparation for the perfect and eternal state death shall be totally abolished
and eternally destroyed (Rev. 21: 4). The confusion regarding such passages as “flesh and blood cannot
inherit the
Flesh
and blood, that is, living nations,
shall, indeed enter the terrestrial kingdom - the kingdom of heavenly rule on
earth which the Messiah-King shall establish at His Second Advent, and, as
determined in a previous chapter, “… when he [Christ] shall have delivered up the [mediatorial] kingdom
to God, even the Father …” the loyal subjects of Christ’s Messianic Kingdom,
having enjoyed the restored Edenic beauty of the old earth and the beneficent
blessings of peace and righteousness during
Christ’s millennial reign, shall continue in their righteous generations as
occupants, or inheritors of the earth, made new, not in substance but in
character.
With the last vestige of the sinful dross and debris
of the old order forever purged away, the total and eternal abolition of Death will end the
days of man’s mortality. The earth
will no longer be the spectacle of the universe where the great tragedy of Sin
took heaven’s best to accomplish the work of eternal
redemption - it will shine as a resplendent jewel, receiving its radiance from
the effulgent glory of “the Heavenly Jerusalem.” “… for the glory of God
did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light
thereof. And the nations ... shall walk in the light of it ...” (Rev. 21: 23-24); and “... the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it …” (22: 3),
THE GLORY AND THE GREATNESS OF THE
KINGDOM
“The Second Coining of Christ” was chosen for
the title of Panorama Study No. 3. because the expectation of the literal return [and
righteous reign] of our Lord Jesus
Christ immediately associates
His coming with the earthly, Messianic Kingdom - the thousand-year reign of the
coming King. From
the beginning of our study, we have endeavoured not to limit our vision to the
Millennial Reign of Christ (as glorious as that era of righteousness and peace
on earth shall be), but to ever keep in view the basic concept of the Universal and
Eternal Kingdom of God, of which all dispensational aspects and episodes are
but a part and purpose.
By virtue of His sovereignty
over all visible and invisible creation and all moral intelligences “The lord is King
for ever and ever”; “Thy throne is
established of old: thou art from everlasting.” Past, present and future are one with the
Eternal King and the fullness of His Kingdom.
In
the unity of the Godhead, from whence He came to put all enemies (Sin, Death,
and Satan) under His feet, the Lamb shall reign with the Father as the Eternal
Son upon the solitary throne, “... the throne of God and of the Lamb.” The Heavenly Jerusalem “... the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be
in it ...”) shall be the capital
city of the Universe, embracing the fathomless realm of all creation - “the heavens ... and all the host of them” - the infinite reaches of space and the limitless
equation of duration which we call Eternity are one in endless harmony and
purpose.
Webster
defines equation as: “an
expression of equality between two magnitudes or operations.” Although we cannot fathom the equality of the two infinite
magnitudes - Space and Eternity - the very words cause us to stand in awe at
the greatness and the glory of the everlasting Kingdom of God: this is “A Kingdom without end,”
with eternal and righteous generations over whom God and the Lamb and
the glorified Saints shall reign for ever and ever. Such a Kingdom,
filling all immensity and endless ages, is, alone, commensurate with the
Majesty, the Glory, the Omnipresence, the Infinity and Eternity of our God.
Now unto the King Eternal, Immortal, Invisible, the Only Wise God,
be
honour and glory for ever and ever. Amen
*
* * *
* * *
729
THE SALVATION OF THE SOUL
By ARLEN L. CHITWOOD
[PART TWO]
The entire program of God during the preceding
dispensations, along with the present dispensation, moves toward the climactic
dispensation having to do with this present earth - the Messianic Era. During
Old Testament days the salvation of the soul in
relation to the heavenly sphere of the kingdom was open to
However,
with the removal of this offer from
“For if the word spoken
through angels proved steadfast, and every transgression
and
disobedience received a just recompense of reward: [3] how
shall we
escape, if we neglect so great salvation? which having at
first been spoken through the Lord, was confirmed
unto us by them that heard:”
(Heb. 2: 2, 3, R.V.)
Heb.
2: 3 reveals that the message concerning
“so great salvation [salvation
of the soul]” was first announced by the Lord. This message, however,
within the text has to do with an announced salvation for a particular people
outside
The
message concerning the salvation of the soul in relation to a
“nation” (the Church) which was not Jewish, first announced by the Lord,
was not understood by the prophets. They “inquired
and searched diligently” concerning something which was beyond their day
and, thus, not for them - coming into possession of this [future] salvation
through being “partakers
of Christ’s sufferings” (1 Peter 1: 5, 9-12; 4: 12, 3).
Jesus
alluded to the new “nation” which would inherit “so great salvation” in Matt. 12: 46-50 by referring to a new relationship not conditioned on
lineal descent (descent from Abraham), and Jesus made known to His disciples
additional facts concerning this new entity through the parables in Matt. 13: 1ff and His revelation of the Church in Matt. 16: 18ff. The full revelation concerning this
separate, distinct “nation,” the Church, was later vouchsafed to the Apostle Paul and is called in Eph.
3: 3 “the mystery,”
referring to something heretofore unrevealed. Revelation concerning the mystery
“first began to
be spoken by the Lord,” the
message was “confirmed
unto us by them that heard him,”
and the full revelation was later given by the Apostle Paul.
Matt. 16: 13ff
outlines the transfer of the salvation of the soul in relation to the ‘kingdom of the heavens’ from Israel to the Church, and
these verses constitute one of the pivotal sections in Matthew’s gospel. Matthew, chapter twelve is the beginning pivotal section, and chapters thirteen and sixteen [from “Hades” 16: 18, R.V.)] continue this same trend of thought, providing additional revelation.
The announcement is then made in chapter twenty-one
concerning the removal of the kingdom from Israel, and the events of Calvary
follow, allowing the Church - the new recipient of the offer to occupy heavenly
positions in the kingdom ‑- to be brought into existence.
IF ANY
DISCIPLE
The
text from Matt. 16: 24-26, dealing with the saving or the losing the soul,
has erroneously been removed from its context by numerous individuals over the
years and used relative to the unsaved and the message of evangelism. These verses, however, have nothing to do with the
unsaved or the message of an evangelist. Truths
brought out in these verses relate to the saved alone, those who have already
been evangelized.
Within
the text, Jesus is speaking to His disciples. The words, “If any man,” in verse
twenty-four could be better translated, “If any one,” i.e,, “If any of you
[disciples].” The word “man” is not in
the Greek text but has been supplied by the
translators. The disciples were saved individuals, and
the message concerning denying oneself, taking up one’s cross, and following
Christ (things not possible for the unsaved to accomplish) was directed to
them. Nor can verses
twenty-five
and twenty-six, which refer to
the saving or the losing of the soul, be separated from verse twenty-four. The word “For”
connects verse twenty-five with verse twenty-four, and the same word
again connects verse twenty-six with both preceding verses. Denying oneself, taking
up one’s cross, and following Christ in verse twenty-four is the
manner in which the salvation of
the soul is effected. And the inverse of this is true concerning the manner in
which the loss of the soul is effected.
Within
the context, as we have seen, Jesus is dealing with things relative to the ‘kingdom of the heavens’ (verse
19).
His Messiahship (vv. 13-16, 20), the
Church (vv. 17-19), the
Cross, allowing the Church to be brought into
existence (vv. 21-23), and
the
salvation of the soul in relation to the coming [messianic] kingdom (vv. 24-27) constitute the subject matter at hand. One thought
leads into another, with the latter, the salvation of the soul in relation to
the coming kingdom, being the end or goal toward which all things move.
Note
how plainly and unmistakably the salvation of the soul (vv. 24-26) is connected with the coming kingdom (verse 27) rather than with eternal life. The word “For” (same word which begins vv.
25, 26) appears once again, connecting verse twenty-seven with the preceding verses. Thus, verses twenty-four through twenty-seven can only be looked upon as an
indivisible unit in
Scriptural interpretation.
1. DENY ONESELF
To
deny oneself is to deny the fleshly impulses of the
soul - the self-life. The unredeemed soul housed in an unredeemed body is to be kept under subjection through the instrumentality of
man’s redeemed spirit. Through the impartation of the Word of God into man’s
redeemed spirit, individuals, under the leadership of the Holy Spirit,
progressively grow into spiritually mature Christians; and, through the power
of the indwelling Holy Spirit, Christians growing in such a manner are able to
deny the fleshly impulses of the soul, keeping their bodies under subjection.
This
subjective state of the soul in relation to the spiritual man can be graphically illustrated from Old Testament typology
in the lives of Sarah and Hagar. Hagar (the bondwoman), despised in the eyes of
Sarah (the freewoman), had fled into the wilderness. But
the angel of the Lord finding her by a spring gave the command, “Return to thy mistress
[Sarah], and submit thyself under her hands” (Gen.
16: 4-9). That
which is under the bondage of sin must ever be submissive to that which has been removed from this bondage.
Sarah’s
and Hagar’s sons (Isaac and Ishmael) are set forth in both Genesis and Galatians as typifying the man
of spirit (Isaac) and the man of flesh (Ishmael). The soul (self-life) of man
(in association with the flesh) must ever be submissive to the spiritual man.
Hagar was blessed, but only subsequent to her
submission to Sarah (Gen. 16: 10); and
man in his self-life will be blessed, but only subsequent to the submission of
the soul to the Spirit. Blessings relating to the self-life (soul) will occur
at the time of the salvation of the soul. The great issue, then is the man of flesh and the man of spirit both striving for
control of the Christian’s life (soul), with the salvation of the soul being
realized only through
control of the self-life by the spiritual man.
2. TAKE UP ONES GROSS, AND
FOLLOW CHRIST
The
“Cross” was the instrument of death, and taking
up one’s cross is dying to self, the self-life. Christians are told, “If ye live after the flesh ye
shall die; but if ye through the Spirit do
mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live”
(Rom. 8: 13). The man
of flesh, the deeds of the body, exhibited through one’s self-life must be kept in a constant state of dying. The old man is,
so to speak, to be affixed to the cross and not be
allowed to move about. If mortification after this fashion occurs, the man will
live (he will experience the salvation of his soul); however, if mortification
after this fashion does not occur, the man will die (he will experience the loss
of his soul).
The
words “take up” and “follow” in verse
twenty-four appear in two different tenses in the Greek text. The first has to
do with a one-time act, but he latter has to do with continuous action. That
is, Christians are to “take up” the
cross at the beginning of their pilgrim walk, never laying it down, and, in
this manner, “follow” Christ continuously throughout the pilgrim walk.
The
same basic thought is set forth in Rom. 12: 1 where Christians are told, “... present your bodies a
living sacrifice.” The word “present” has to do with a one-time act to be
performed at the beginning of the pilgrim walk, never to be repeated. As
the Old Testament priest placed the sacrifice upon the altar and left it there,
the New Testament priest is called upon to do the same
with his body. The body is to be placed upon the altar
through a one-time act, and the body is then to remain upon the altar in a
continuous state of sacrifice, never to be removed. “Continuous
dedication” in the Christian life is the correct Biblical perspective. “Rededication” - as men often use the term - is, on the
other hand, completely out of place, for such cannot exist in the Biblical
framework of the pilgrim walk.
FOR WHOSOEVER ...
The
word “whosoever” is verse
twenty-five refers
directly back to verse
twenty-four. The thought is, “Whosoever of you
[disciples]...”, Verses
twenty-five and twenty-six
further amplify what has already been stated in verse
twenty-four, and, along with verse twenty-seven,
form the Lord’s own commentary on this verse.
The
word translated “life” twice in verse twenty-five and
twice again in verse twenty-six (ASV) is from the Greek word psuche, which means either “soul” or “life.” A number
of translations (e.g. KJV, NASB, NIV)
render the word psuche “life” in verse
twenty-five but “soul” in verse twenty-six. Since “soul” and “life” are synonymous terms, translating psuche as “life” in one
verse and “soul” in the next verse cannot really be
considered inaccurate. But not everyone has
access to the Greek text or understands that “soul” and “life” are synonymous terms; and an inconsistent translation
of this nature has, over the years, served to foster confusion in the
interpretation of these verses.
Any
[regenerate] Christian who refuses to “deny himself,
and take up his cross, and follow” Christ during the present day (verse 24) - synonymous with “whosoever will save
his life” (verse 25) - “shall [in the coming [millennial] day] lose it” (verse 25),
i.e., experience the loss of his soul.
On the other hand, any Christian who
will “deny himself,
and take up his
cross, and follow” Christ during the present [evil
and
apostate] day (verse 24) - synonymous with “whosoever will lose
his life for my sake” (verse 25) - shall [in the coming [messianic reign
and] day] find it”
(verse 25), i.e., realize the
salvation of his soul.
The
inverse of the place which the soul occupies during the
Christian’s present pilgrim walk will be true during the coming reign of
Christ. A Christian who saves his soul today (allows his self-life to gain the
ascendancy, to rule) will lose his soul in that coming day, and Christian who
loses his soul today (keeps his self-life under subjection, refuses to allow
the soul to rule) will gain his soul in that coming day.
PROFIT ...
EXCHANGE
The
words “profited” and “exchange” in verse twenty-six have to do with building or refusing to build upon an
initial investment. Christians alone are in view. Only the saved are in possession of this
initial investment and, thus, in a position to profit.
The
very ultimate in man’s goals, aims, and ambitions - gaining the entire world in
the self-life - is set over against forfeiting one’s life for the sake of
Christ, with profit being
accrued only in the latter.
There can be no profit in the former, for the Christian has no initial
investment in this realm. His initial investment is associated with the man of
spirit alone. Profit accrued on the initial investment will result in the salvation
of one’s soul, but no accrual on the initial investment will result in the loss
of one’s soul.
“Profit” and “Exchange” are the subject of several
parables on stewardship which the Lord gave during His earthly ministry, and a
brief review of two of these parables, the parable of the pounds and the
parable of the talents, will illustrate what is meant by these expressions in Matt.
16: 26.
In
the parable of the pounds (Luke 19: 11-27), a certain Nobleman (the Lord), before departing into
the “far country,” delivered “ten pounds” unto
His “ten servants” and commanded them, “Occupy till I come.” “Ten” is the
number of ordinal completion, signifying
all the
Lord’s business delivered to all His servants. The “pound” is a
monetary unit of exchange, and all the servants of the Lord were to trade and traffic in all the Lord’s business until He returned. Those who did so
realized a profit, using the initial investment; but the servant who refused to
use the initial investment realized no profit at all. Upon the Lord’s return, the one’s profiting from the initial
investment were rewarded, but the one
who realized no profit suffered loss.
The
parable of the talents (Matt. 25: 14-30) presents
another picture of this same truth. A certain Man (the Lord) called “his own servants,” delivered unto them “his goods [talents],” and then departed into the “far country.”
The talent, as the pound, is a monetary unit of exchange, pointing to the
Lord’s business. The servants of the Lord, as in the parable of the pounds,
were to trade and traffic in the Lord’s business during His time of absence. And, as in the parable of the pounds, those servants who used the talents realized a profit from
the initial investment, but the servant who refused to use the initial investment realized no profit at all.
Upon the Lord’s return, the ones profiting from the initial investment were rewarded,
but the one who realized no profit suffered
loss.
CONCLUDING THOUGHTS:
The
salvation of the soul is clearly set forth in Matt.
16: 24-27 as
emanating from works following the salvation of the spirit [i.e., being “born-again”
(regenerate)] and has to do with rewards in the coming [messianic and millennial] kingdom. Salvation completely
apart from works
applies to the “spirit” alone, and salvation in connection with works applies to the “soul” alone. The former must first be realized before the
latter can come into view at all, for, through the [initial and eternal] salvation
of the spirit (Eph.
2: 8, 9),
Christians have been “created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath
before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph.
2: 10).
(The Epistle of James is the great epistle on faith and works in connection with the salvation of the soul. …)
(To be continued, D.V.)
*
* * *
* * *
730
THE POSITION AND RESPONSIBILITY
OF THE CHURCH
By WATCHMAN NEE
What position does God give the church? What is the
vision God entrusts to the church on earth? Why does He permit Satan, whose
head is already crushed, to remain on earth?
God
leaves the church on earth not only to preach the gospel to save sinners but
also to demonstrate the victory of Christ on the cross. He permits Satan to
remain on earth for the sake of creating
opportunity for us to prove the victory of His Son. He expects us to exhibit the victory of His beloved Son. Consequently,
a defeated believer brings disgrace to God.
The
church is the body of Christ. And the body ought to
carry on the work of the Head. The church is the fullness of Christ. As Christ
overflows, there is the church. The church is to continue what has already been done and taught as recorded in the Four Gospels.
There
are three principal points to be found in the New
Testament: (1) the cross, (2) the
church, and (3) the kingdom. On the cross Christ
has accomplished redemption and won the victory. The kingdom is to manifest the redemption and victory
which Christ has achieved. But in the
meanwhile the church is now to maintain
on earth that which Christ has fulfilled on the cross. The cross speaks of
God’s legal judgment. The kingdom is to
reveal the execution of God’s authority and power. But
the church stands between these two to affirm what the cross has accomplished and to foretaste the powers of
the kingdom age to come (cf. Heb. 6: 5).
Satan
cannot overcome the personal Christ. Yet he is able to put the personal Christ
to shame through the corporate Christ - because the defeat of the body is construed to be the defeat of the Head. And the failure of one of its members is taken as the
failure of the whole body. We are the complement of Christ (“... he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days...” (Isa. 53: 10), just as formerly we were the extension of Adam. God leaves us on earth for the sake of our fulfilling
His [millennial and] eternal plan and arriving at His purpose of the ages.
Before
the ark was brought into
The
Nature of Christ’s Victory and the Church
SCRIPTURE TO BE READ:
“He that overcometh, I will give to him to sit down with me in my throne,
as I also overcame, and sat down with my Father
in his throne”: (Rev. 3: 21).
The
victory of Christ is the pattern for all victories - “As
I also overcame ...”
Three Enemies
The
Bible tells us we have three different enemies: (1) the flesh - in us, (2) the world -
outside of us, and (3) Satan - above and below us. According to
the ascended position of the church, Satan is under us.
The
Old Testament uses three different tribes to typify these enemies. The
Amalekites typify the flesh, which is to be overcome
through constant prayer. The Egyptians signify the world, which needs to be buried in the
The flesh is set against the Holy Spirit: “the flesh lusteth
against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are
contrary the one to the other” (Gal.
5: 17). The world
opposes the Father: “If any man love the
world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1
John 2: 15). And Satan contends
with Christ:
“To this end was the
Son of God manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3: 8). We thus see that the flesh is
overcome by walking after the Holy Spirit; the
world is overcome by loving the Father; and Satan is
overcome by believing in Christ.
The
first enemy that appears is the flesh. In the earlier era
an archangel became self-centered and willed to
exalt himself to be equal with God. This is how self first entered the world.
This marks the beginnings of sin, the world, and Satan.
When
God created man He gave the latter a tremendous power, that of reproduction.
Man is able to pass on his life to his progeny. Originally
God had the hope that man would eat the fruit of the tree of life, thus
possessing God’s life and transmitting the same to his descendants.
Accordingly, He forbade man to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of
good and evil. Satan slipped in and committed spiritual adultery with this
first couple. He injected his poisonous seed into them for them to reproduce it
in their descendants. Satan is the father of liars (John
8: 44). His seed is the lie, whereas
God’s seed is the truth. The principle with which Satan tempted Adam to sin is
the same principle on which he himself sinned.
Satan
has his kingdom as well as his family. He gets people to become children of his
family and to be citizens of his kingdom over whom he then acts as king.
After
Satan had tempted man to sin his operation thereafter was
confined to the earth, that is to say, to the world. The curse he
received was that “upon thy belly shalt thou go,
and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life”
(Gen. 3: 14). He can rule, walk on the earth, and take man
- who came out of dust - as his food. Accordingly, this is Satan’s great
defeat. Even in the fall of man God has won a
tremendous victory.
Satan
has his organization on earth, and what he organizes becomes the world. He is
king in his own organized world, and the whole world lies under him (1
John 5: 19).
The Victory of Christ
Before the Lord Jesus came forth for
public ministry He was first baptized. This [immersion in
water] signifies that it was in death
and resurrection
that He carried on the work of three
years and a half. There was
absolutely no flesh involved in the work of His life. We call the life of these
three and a half years a life of the cross. The Lord Jesus never did anything
according to His own will. He always did the will of Him by whom He was sent. He not only did the Father’s will, He also
waited for the Father’s time (John 7: 6, 10).
In
tempting the Lord, Satan tried to entice Him to act outside of the word of God
- to entice Him, for example, to turn stone into bread. But
the Lord answered, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that proceedeth out of the mouth of God” (Matt.
4: 4). He frequently said, “The Son
can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the
Father doing” (John 5: 19); and, “I can of myself do nothing: as
I hear, I judge” (John 5: 30). “Of himself”
means a coming out of himself,
that is, a drawing upon himself as the
source. Satan often tempts people to verify themselves after they have been validated by God. How he lures the Lord to
prove himself to be the Son of God after God has
already borne witness to this fact (at His baptism).
The
Lord’s crucifixion is wholly in accordance with God’s will. For He prayed thus
in the garden: “Nevertheless,
not as I will,
but as thou wilt”; and, “My Father, if this cannot pass
away, except I drink it, thy will be done”
(Matt. 26:
39, 42); and finally, in speaking to Peter He said, “The cup which the Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” (John
18: 11) His being able to accept the cross is victory.
Unshaken by outward and inward forces, this is victory. No flesh activating itself within, no worldly attraction or instigation
stirring without, and no Satanic ground being yielded
to beneath - that is victory. Throughout
His life our Lord never lived according to the flesh.
He had set the flesh so completely aside that He was the first man in whom
Satan had absolutely nothing. Neither the flesh nor the world nor the devil had
any place in Him.
God’s Desire For the Church to Live
Out the Victory of Christ
In
saving men God saves them from the flesh, the world,
and Satan. He calls us to deny everything which comes out of the world, what is earthly; to
deny everything which emanates from self, what is of the flesh; and to deny
everything which proceeds from Satan. Satan uses the world and the flesh to
assault us. Only in those who are truly spiritual will Satan attack directly. Those who wholly reject the world as a system and deny the mind of
the flesh will be directly assailed by Satan.
The
cross of Christ needs the body of Christ. If sinners only accept the cross objectively, they alone will gain. But if in addition sinners receive the cross subjectively, God too will gain. The cross of Christ acts like a sword
which cuts off all which is of the old creation from us; the resurrection
of Christ gives us a new beginning.
The
victory of Christ includes: (1) crucifixion - the putting away negatively all
belonging to the old creation, (2) resurrection - the bringing in positively of
a new beginning, and (3) ascension - the obtaining of a victorious position.
Through
the death, resurrection, and ascension of Christ the church is to live out His victory on earth. The cross ought to be planted in the centre of our life. God holds us
responsible for letting the cross cut off all the old creation known to us (but
not, incidentally, for what we are unconscious of).
WHO GOD’S
OVERCOMERS ARE
SCRIPTURES TO BE READ:
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the
churches. He that overcometh,
to him will I give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God:” (Rev. 2: 7).
“He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the
churches. He that overcometh
shall not be hurt of the second death:” (Rev. 2: 11).
“He that hath an ear, let him
hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. To him that overcometh,
to
him will I give of the
hidden manna, and
I will give him a white stone, and upon the stone
a new name written, which no one knoweth but he that receiveth:”(Rev. 2. 17).
“And he that overcometh, and he that keepeth my works unto the end,
to
him will I give authority over
the nations:”(Rev. 2: 26).
“He that overcometh shall
thus be arrayed in white garments;
and I will in no wise
blot
his name out of the book of life, and I will confess his name before
my Father, and before his angels:” (Rev.
3: 5).
“He that overcometh, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my
God, and he shall go
out thence no more: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name
of the city of my God, the New Jerusalem, which
cometh down out of
heaven from my God, and mine own new name:” (Rev.
3: 12).
“He that overcometh, I will
give to him to sit down with me in my
throne, as
I also overcame, and sat down with my Father in his throne:” (Rev. 3: 21).
The Failure of the Church
The reason for the church to remain on earth is to maintain and demonstrate the victory
of the cross of Christ by binding Satan in every place, just as the Lord
himself - the Head of the church - bound Satan at
Knowing
well how the church would affect his defeat, Satan began to persecute and kill
the church. He later changed his tactics to deceive the church with falsehood.
He is a liar as well as a murderer. Yet the church fears neither his smiling
face nor his angry face. The book of Acts is a record of life
out of death for the church. God utilized the attacks of Satan to demonstrate
through the church the victory of Christ. Unfortunately, the church gradually failed - as shown in such instances
as the lie [to the Holy
Spirit] of Ananias and Sapphira, the [covetousness
(Acts 8: 18)
and] greediness of
Simon, the creeping
in of false brethren [Acts
20: 30], the seeking by many believers of their own things, and the forsaking by many [“touching
the hope and resurrection of the dead:” (Acts 23: 6. cf. 24:
15, 21; 26: 6, 7, R.V.)] of the imprisoned Paul.
God Looks for Overcomers
Now
whenever the church fails, God finds a few in the church
- called to be
overcomers - that they might bear the responsibility
which the church as a whole ought to but fails to bear. He
chooses a company of the faithful
few to represent the church in the demonstration of the victory of Christ. He
has His overcomers in all the seven periods of the church (as
represented by the seven churches described in Revelation chapters 2 and 3). This overcomer line is
never cut. The overcomers are not some special class. They are
simply a group of [humble, obedient, repentant, and dedicated] people who
conform to the original plan
of God.
The Principle of Overcomers
The
way God works, as illustrated in His Holy Scriptures, is to find a few as a nucleus in order to reach
the many. This was true in the patriarchal age. At that time
God chose people individually: those such as Abel, Enoch, Noah, and Abraham.
Later on through Abraham (the few) God reaches the whole nation of
“...
the Head, from whom all the body,
being supplied and knit together through the joints and
bands, increaseth with the increase of God”
(Col. 2: 19). The
joints are for supplying, while the
bands are for knitting. The Head holds the body together
through these joints and bands. And these joints and
bands are the overcomers.*
*
* *
[* Passages like
this many prefer to pass over - but they
are there. The belief that “a steady progress of the Church was promised by the
New Testament is without foundation.” On the contrary,
the New Testament constantly affirms that disorder of the universe, and the
apostasy of many within the Church itself, is a prelude to the coming
Antichrist, Great Tribulation; and the subsequent Advent of the Son of Man to establish His “government” and reign of righteousness and peace “upon the throne of David...:”
(Isa. 9: 7, R.V.). See also:- Isa. 2: 4; 52: 7-10; 61: 11; 65: 18-25; 66: 10-14, R.V.
Pray for the peace of Jerusalem.]
*
* * *
* * *
731
THE ELEVENTH
HOUR
By D. M. PANTON, B.A.
GOD the Holy Ghost has gone forth down all the ages of
history, again and again summoning labourers into the
vast vineyard of God.
In
the dawn of the world “He went out early in the morning” (Matt. 20: 1), and
brought in the pre-Flood hosts of saints, of whom - except a thin line of
Patriarchs - we know nothing and have no revelation. He went forth again to
Jacob’s children in
Work
Thus work
waits, and waits for all. “The kingdom of heaven is like unto a man that is a
householder that went out to hire labourers” (Matt.
20: 1). Dredging, ditching, building, staking; planting, watering, weeding, pruning: a vineyard on the
mountainside is an apt parable of strenuous work. Savages far
off in inaccessible forests, who are yet to be stars in the Redeemer’s crown;
little children in hundreds of thousands, at present totally unconscious of
Christ, who are to be standard-bearers of the Cross in coming years; monstrous
errors to be fought with the naked sword of the Word of God; Scripture to be
unfolded to the gaze of an astonished Church; characters to be built up before
the sight of all men out of the elements of Christ: vast, exhaustless, accomplishable,
divine, the work waits. Therefore the Spirit
moves amongst all ranks and classes, seeking labourers; not one willing worker
is refused: the call goes out into all lands, all races, all ages, all souls.
The Eleventh
Hour
So
naturally our thoughts turn to the eleventh hour,
which manifestly is our hour today - only sixty minutes before the midnight cry
- “Behold,
the bridegroom cometh”. Even Scientists believe the race is reaching its last
hour. On the covers of three successive issues of The
Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists appeared
the outline of a portion of a clock. In June 1947 the
hands of their clock were set at eight minutes to twelve. Twenty-nine months later they set the hands at four minutes to twelve. From
October 1949 to March 1950 the hands of the clock
moved one minute and they now stand at three minutes to twelve. “About the eleventh hour he
went out, and found others standing: and he saith unto them, Why stand ye here all
the day idle?” That man has missed
the whole purpose of life who is not at work for God.
He may be the busiest man on earth; but all life is idleness if it has no
conscious labour for the life beyond: all labour that
has no Christ in it is one immense miscarriage. “Alas”
- as one man said on his death-bed - “how laboriously
I have spent all life in doing nothing.” So the Holy Spirit argues with the soul. “Why stand ye here all
the day idle?” Your whole life is
only one day, one little day: why idle away even your last hour?
Every man has, in his own wonderful composition, every tool
for doing the work of God; and the call carries with it all the power needed to
obey: why then stand idle?
A Missed
Call
It
is a very pathetic response which is made in the
marketplace. “They
say unto him, Because no man has hired us.” They were unemployed, not unemployables; they were not habitual
loiterers, or chronic wasters: they are waiting in the marketplace for hire that never comes. Somehow the call has missed them all these years. Some men
are called in the morning of their life, like Timothy: some in its meridian,
like Paul: some in their sunset, like Nicodemus - “Can a man be born again,” he cries “when he is old?” The call has never reached their ears. A godless home
and a churchless youth; no shock of grace to awaken or arouse; religious
teachers that never told them the truth, for these teachers never know the truth: somehow they had never come face to face with the Lord of
the Vineyard.
The Last
Hour
Now what a joy it is to tell such souls that it is just
for them - the loving, tender, gracious command of our Lord. “Go YE ALSO into
the vineyard.” It
is a marvel of grace, but just like our Lord Jesus that He is willing to accept
the last hour in His gracious and golden service. Abounding goodness
calls at the eleventh hour; and momentous work can
be done in the last minutes before the sunset of a wasted life. God
is calling us at all times and in all places; by day and by night; by
accidents, by Scriptures, by hopes, by fears: most of all we hear the call in
the fellowship of God’s own people, where He finds far the most of His
labourers: until the most wonderful call - the call up to the Throne of God.
Work Now
Now
we close with that sunset scene. It is five o’clock, the hour before sunset; and
as all labourers had, by the Law of Moses, to be paid before sunset
(Deut.
24: 15), less than one hour remains. The Eleventh Hour, named
only here in the whole Bible, is an uncertain hour, a slippery hour, a
difficult hour, a blessed hour. It is naturally a rare hour for living; it is
grace to an unusual degree - the call reaching the ears before the ears are
dead; and it is, necessarily, the last invitation of grace. At the twelfth hour there is no call, for all the work is finished. “The night cometh, when no man can work.” “Because I have called, and ye
refused, I will laugh in the day of your
calamity, and mock when your fear cometh”
(Proverbs 1: 24).
Facing the
Hour
So we do
well to face our eleventh hour. When Sir Robert Matheson, Registrar General for
*
* * *
* *
732
MESSIANIC
JEWS
By ERNEST GORDON
YEARS ago a ‘watcher’
in New England heard of the Choveir Zion, ‘the lovers of Zion’, a group in Russia that had
formed itself with the end in view of
re-establishing Israel in the Holy Land. Later, this watcher came into
rather intimate touch with Joseph Rabinowitsch, an early convert to Christ, who had
established in Kischenev in
Not the least interesting is the group to which she belongs, the
French section of the Jewish-Christian Association. Its organ is
Abram Poljak, a leader, in the German Section, writes:-
“We speak of our community, but we envisage the Messianic
community of
Albert Springer, a
Nineteen
hundred and seventeen was the date of the Balfour Declaration, the Magna Charta
of Israel's return. Mr. PoIjak writes:- “In the light of the numbers in the Book of Daniel, numbers
understood both by Jewish mystics and by Christians, a rabbi explained to me in
1914 from certain Jewish comment on Daniel, that with the breaking out of world
war we would enter into the period terminating with the coming of Messiah. The
war would last intermittently for dozens of years and would entail great
suffering to the Jews, but when the
misery reached its height, Messiah would save
That
we live under the sign of the coming Messianic Kingdom is more widely
recognised in
Now a little of the history of the mustard seed! In 1937, the first four members, four Jews, met in
Former
Chief Rabbi of
*
* * *
* * *
733
SPIRITUALISM
By DR. OSWALD
SMITH
SPIRITISM, or Spiritualism, as it is
called, originated in the
Paul
definitely predicted it in 1
Timothy 4: 1,
“Now the Spirit speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits and doctrines of devils.”
Most
of it is nothing but deception, but some is real, and when it is real, the
mediums, or witch-doctors, are in contact with, and under
the control of demons or evil spirits.
Spiritualist mediums claim that they can communicate with the dead. Let me
say that that is absolutely impossible and that no
message left by spiritualists has ever reached the living. If the dead can communicate with the living, then why did
not the rich man himself communicate with his five brothers? Abraham
told him it was impossible (Luke 16: 19-31).
If
anyone quotes the incident of the Witch
of Endor, just remember that God worked a miracle and brought up Samuel,
not the witch, for she was the most surprised of all. And
then remember that God destroyed Saul for consulting her, for spiritism
was one of the causes of his death. “So Saul died for ... asking
counsel of one that had a familiar spirit, to
inquire of it” (1
Chron. 10: 13,
14).
That shows how dangerous it is.
It was Manassch’s spiritism that provoked God to anger. “He observed times, and used enchantments in the sight of the Lord,
to provoke him to anger” (2 Kings 21: 6). That shows how God hates it.
Simon the
sorcerer was reproved by Peter for his spiritism. “I perceive that thou art in the gall of bitterness, and in the bond of iniquity” (Acts 8: 6-24). That
shows how sinful it is in the sight of God.
Elymas, the sorcerer who opposed Paul, was struck
blind. Here is Paul’s denunciation of him: “O full of mischief, thou
child of the devil, thou enemy of all
righteousness, wilt thou not cease
to pervert the right ways of the Lord?” (Acts 13: 6-12). That shows how devilish it is.
A
damsel who was a spiritualist medium was delivered by God from her spirit
control (Acts 16: 16-24). That shows that even a medium can be saved
and set free; also that God is opposed to spiritism.
All
spiritualists who do not repent are doomed, and doomed
forever. “Sorcerers ... shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and
brimstone; which is the second
death” (Rev. 21: 8). Beware then of spiritism.
Everywhere
in the Word of God spiritism is condemned. How then
can Christians have anything to do with it? Let me quote just four passages to
prove my assertion.
Deuteronomy 18: 9-14: There shall not be found among you any that useth divination, or an observer of times, or an enchanter,
or a witch, or a charmer, or a
consulter with familiar spirits, or a
wizard, or a necromancer.
For all that do
these things are an abomination unto the Lord.
Leviticus 19: 31: “Regard not them that
have familiar spirits, neither seek after wizards
to be defiled by them.”
Leviticus 20: 6: “The soul that
turneth after such as have familiar spirits and after
wizards, to go a whoring
after them, I will even set my
face against that soul, and will cut him off
from among the people.”
Leviticus 20: 27: “A man also or a
woman that hath a familiar spirit (a medium), shall surely be put
to death: they shall stone
them with stones: their blood shall
be upon them.” That means
that if you are a spiritualist medium, and if you had lived before Christ, you
would have been stoned to death.
Spiritism
is classed as a false cult because its teachings are utterly
unscriptural.
“There is no resurrection and no
judgment,” it states. “There is no hell [i.e., no “Hades” or “The Lake of Fire”]
and no devil. Hell does not exist and never will”. - Conan Doyle.
*
* *
It is significant of the rapid approach of the
Apostasy, which is to be created by ‘seducing spirits’ (1 Tim.
4: 1), that the ‘churches’ Fellowship of
Physical Study’ has been formed, with a membership of all
denominations, and which is actually reported favourably by The Church of England Newspaper (June 11,
1954). Sir Cyril Atkinson, presiding
at its annual meeting, said:- “Spiritualism is the friend and ally of Christianity. Many members of all
denominations have come to realize the importance of communication with the
unseen world.” Col. Reginald
Lester, the founder of the Fellowship, says:- “The response of the launching of the Fellowship exceeded the
most optimistic expectations. Hundreds of applications for
membership come in every day” (Psychic
News, June 12, 1954).
The Fellowship is to be extended over the whole world.
*
* * *
* * *
734
CLEAVAGE
BETWEEN BELIEVERS
By W. F.
ROADHOUSE
-------
“FAITHFUL” SERVICE AND REWARDS
DELINQUENT
LIVES AND LOSSES
-------
1. Multiplied “Pounds”
- further entrustment. Luke 19: 17-19.
Un-used “Pound” shirker
- loses out. Luke 19: 24.
2. Multiplied
“Talents” - further
ministries. Matt. 25: 21-23.
Un-used (and stripped)
“Talent”
Servant. Matt. 25: 24.
3. Faithful, wise Servant. Matt. 24: 44-47.
Evil, persecuting
Servant. Matt. 24: 48-51.
4. “One
shall be taken” joyfully.
Matt. 24: 40, 41.
“The other (disciple) left” and bereft. Matt. 24: 40, 41.
5. Possessing
“the wedding garment.” Matt. 22: 10. Note Rev. 19: 8 R.V.
Minus this essential
robe. Matt.
22: 11-14. [Cf. Matt. 5: 20; Rev. 19: 8b, R.V.]
6. The “five wise virgins” with “oil”. Matt. 25: 1-13.
The lost-testimony
“foolish virgins”. Matt. 25: 8, 13; 2 Tim. 4: 1-5.
7. Prevailing,
victorious intercession: Luke 21: 36; Jas. 5: 13-18.
A near-bankrupt,
defeated prayer life. Matt. 6: 30; 8: 26; 14: 31; Luke 12: 28.
8. “Gold, silver, precious stones.” Context is “teaching.” 1 Cor. 3: 11-14.
Ashes of “wood, hay, stubble”. 1 Cor. 3: 15; 2 Tim. 2: 15.
9. Dedicated,
surrendered wealth now given. Luke 18: 18-30; Matt. 19: 27-29.
Withheld, retained,
yet lost “riches”. Matt. 19: 20-23; 1
Tim. 6: 17-19.
10. “Fruit
of the Spirit.” Gal. 5: 22-24.
Non-inheriting “works of the flesh”. Gal. 5: 16-21.
11. Jacob becomes “prince with God”
and inheritor. Gen. 32: 28.
Essau, remaining a son, forfeits his “firstborn rights”. Heb.
12: 16, 17, Greek.
12. Disciplined -
thus “approved”. 2 Tim. 2: 15; 1 Cor. 9: 24-27.
Underdisciplined
- thus “disapproved.” 1 Cor. 9: 27 Gr.;
examples, 10:1-12 R.V.
13. Non-conformity
to the [apostate] “age spirit”. Rom. 12: 2 (aion).
“Loved this age-spirit” (aion), 2 Tim. 4: 10.
14. Unfaltering
suffering for Jesus’ sake. 1
Peter 4: 1-12.
Worldly-minded escapes from suffering. Jas. 1: 12. Gr. - not
“approved!”
15. The crowned
soul-winner. 1
Thes. 2: 19; cf. 1
Pet. 5: 1-4.
Crownless, unrewarded,
would-be regent. “That no man take thy crown.”
Rev. 3: 11.
16. “Wait
for,” love His appearing.
Heb. 9: 28; 2 Tim. 4: 7, 8.
Un-watching, un-toiling,
unready. “Slumbered, slept.” Matt.
25: 5, 13.
17. “Anointed
... sealed
... earnest of
the Spirit.” 2 Cor. 1: 21, 22, R.V.
Un-anointed, controlled by
“the flesh”. 1 Cor. 5: 9, 10; Eph. 5: 3-5.
18. “If by
any means ... out-resurrection from the dead.” Phil.
3: 10-14.
[Christian] Alternative - “missing the prize.” Phil. 3: 14, 15; cf.
Heb. 12: 1.
19. “The firstfruits unto God” (the sealed 144,000). Rev. 14: 1, 4.
“The harvest of the earth” later on. Rev. 14: 1, 4, 15 (three instalments).
20. “The
church of the firstborn one’s” Christ’s “Body [& “Wife”]. Heb. 12: 23; [Rev. 19: 7.]
Compare “the firstfruits of the Spirit” and the Firstborn among many brethren.
Romans 8: 23, 28,
37 (super-overcomers).
“Come out of the
great Tribulation.” Rev. 7: 14 (cf. Lev. 23:39, 40) also a harvest
group.
See their
former sufferings, 7: 16, 17 - now
“before the
throne of God.”
“Look to Yourselves, that ye LOSE NOT the things which ye have wrought,
but
that ye receive A FULL REWARD” (2 John 8 R.V. (mgn.).
- The
Fellowship Evangelist.
* *
*
Shortly before he died, and when he was dying, … [‘Mr.
Valiant for Truth’] called his friends
and told them of it. He said:- “I am going to my
Father’s; and though with great difficulty I have got hither, yet now I do not
repent me of all the troubles I have been at to arrive where I am. My sword I
give to him that shall succeed me in my pilgrimage, and my courage and skill to
him that can get it. My marks and scars I carry with me to be a witness for me
that I have fought His battles, who now will be my rewarder.”
--------
JEWS
Why [all Spirit-taught, humble
and obedient] Christians pray for Jews may thus be stated:-
(1) Because of the close relationship between
(
(2) Because of God’s command, with special promises of
blessing
(Gen. 12: 3; Psa. 122: 6; Isa. 62: 7).
(3) Because
(Jer. 31: 3;
(4) Because it is God’s will that
all
(Isa.
12: 1-6; Matt. 23: 37; Rom. 11: 23-32).
(5) Because of the great multitude to be saved through
their ministry
(Rom.
11: 25; Rev. 7: 9-17).
(6) Because no millennial blessings can come to the
nations apart from
(Acts 15: 16, 17; Rom. 11: 11-15).
(7) Because of
showing that their redemption draweth nigh
(Dan. 12: 1; Luke 21: 24-31).
*
* * *
* * *
735
THE LIFE THAT PLEASES GOD
By A. T. SCHOFIELD,
M.D., M.R.C.S.
[PART
TWO]
-------
Remedies in
the Light of Scripture
When we are brought to God we find that two things take
place, our sins or the evil deeds of the lower nature (the mule) are forgiven, but sin, the nature (or the “mule”)* itself is
not forgiven, nor is it taken away,
though to faith it is condemned and executed. Only to faith is it known that
the “old man was
crucified with Him, that the body of sin might
be done away, that so we should no longer be in
bondage to sin” (Rom. 6: 6). That is to say, our Saviour died, and
we die in our old nature as to sin, and the life we now have is the new
and risen life in which the “mule” has no part.
* “I have chosen the name “mule” for this lower nature in a previous work “The Man and the Mule,” by the same author.
The Hebrew word for “mule” means “separated, out of joint, divided”, and probably
refers to the unsociable and solitary disposition of the animal. … In 2
Samuel 18: 9 we read: “And Absalom chanced to meet the servants of David. And Absalom rode upon his mule, and the mule went under the thick boughs of a great oak, and
his head caught hold of the oak … and the mule
that was under him went away”. One feels this
is just what a mule would do; it gets
the bit in its teeth, and then chooses
its own path and runs into the wood blindly and recklessly, and so unseats and
destroys its rider.
“When further we read (1
Kings 1: 33) that David caused
Solomon to ride upon his mule, we
may see figuratively a fresh reason for
the erratic and God-dishonouring ways of Bathsheba’s son. It is so with us, and we do well to remember that this evil principle either varies immensely
in its form and character as it is influenced and used by our
great enemy without. …
“Then suddenly comes the crash. The holy and saintly man unexpectedly attracted through the eyegate or
eargate, or some other sense, falls suddenly an easy prey to the enemy, even as
did the Apostle Peter by the fire of coals, in spite of being forewarned by the
Master Himself. This is a true picture. The fact is, this terrible enemy within
is after all the greatest enemy we have, and men of
the world often recognise this.”
The
whole point for an honest walk is how to make this victorious position of faith
true in fact in daily life. That the “mule” is
not actually dead, though dead to faith, is clear from
Romans 6: 11: “Even go reckon ye also yourselves to
be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ
Jesus”. It is obviously a matter of
the reckoning of faith as opposed to literal fact. We are
called upon by the Word to reckon the lower nature as dead, and to keep
it so in the most practical manner; by never letting it use the powers of the
mind or of the body. “Let not sin therefore reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey the lusts thereof: neither present your members unto sin as instruments of
unrighteousness; but present yourselves unto God,
as alive from the dead, and
your members as instruments of righteousness unto God. For sin shall not have dominion over you” (Rom. 6: 12-14). “Ye
became obedient from the heart to
that form of teaching whereunto ye were delivered; and being made free from sin,
ye became servants of righteousness. I speak
after the manner of men because of the infirmity of your flesh: for as ye presented your members as servants to uncleanness
and to iniquity unto iniquity, even so now present your members as servants to
righteousness unto sanctification. For when
ye were servants of sin, ye were free in regard
of righteousness. What fruit then had ye at that
time in the things whereof ye are now ashamed? for the end of those things is death. But now being made free from sin, and become servants to God, ye
have your fruit unto sanctification, and the end
eternal life” (Rom. 6: 17-22).* This is real and practical
sanctification.
[* Gk. ‘aionios’. That is, in this context of the believers’ works,
should be translated ‘life age-lasting’! See “The Dualism of Eternal Life” by S. S. Craig.]
Victory Over
Sin
That
sin, however, is not driven out in the Christian is very evident in Romans 7: 15-25, where after picturing a fight with the lower nature
that only ends in discomfort and wretchedness, he sums up the conflict in the
words: “O
wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me out
of the body of this death?” (Rom.
7: 24). The only answer is that which he has already given in
chapter 6. “I thank
God through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom.
7: 25).
It is Christ who has obtained the victory over sin, not we ourselves,
and our part is to accept the victory He has gained and never allow the lower
nature to act. The character of the lower nature is indeed unchangeable and
un-improvable. “So
then I myself with the mind serve the law of God, but with the flesh the law of sin” (Rom. 7: 25). “The mind of the
flesh is enmity against God, for it is not
subject to the law of God, neither indeed can
it be” (Rom. 8: 7).
We are also told to make no provision for the flesh to
fulfil the lusts thereof (Rom. 13: 14), a most
necessary exhortation; for, alas, it is true with so many of us that far from
living up to the high standard set before us in Romans
6, we may absolutely go out of our way to enter into temptation, and so
expose ourselves to careless thoughts and actions that we are actually making
provision for the flesh instead of keeping it in death. On the other hand, the Christian who walks by faith
after God’s counsels, though he has still sin in him,
need never sin, and would never sin unless he let the “mule” loose, which he should never do.
The body kept under
It
is plain, therefore, that while the law for the Christian man is the law of
liberty and love, the only law for the “mule,”
is death, and the sternest treatment that can be given.
It is obvious that here is a contradiction, for if he be
dead no treatment of any sort is needed. That is just the point, and that is
why that although the “mule” is
spoken of as dead to faith in Romans 6,
in practice the bit and bridle must be
used. The bridle is only mentioned twice in the
Psalms. In Psalm 32: 9 the Christian man is not to be bridled but guided by God’s
eye; but in Psalm 39: 1 the lower nature is to be bridled:- “I will keep my
mouth with a bridle while the wicked is before me”. So also in James 1: 26, while in
chapter 3: 2 he describes the perfect man as one who is “able to bridle the whole body also”. But Paul’s own treatment of
the lower nature, although he is the one to say it is dead to faith (1 Cor. 9: 27), far exceeds in severity anything else in the Bible,
for he used a stick as well. “To keep under”
is literally to beat black and blue, and amounts to severe castigation, far
exceeding any bridle or strong curb. Of course the
language is metaphorical, and does not refer to literal scourging as practised
by monks in all ages. In all these passages the body
is obviously placed figuratively for the lower nature. It may, therefore, be
said that the general principles according to Scripture for the treatment of
the lower nature is that it should not only be reckoned dead by faith, but
should practically be kept in the closest captivity and treated with the
greatest severity. We
cannot be too strict or watchful against this inveterate foe, ever ready to
bring discredit upon the Name of Christ and disgrace on our profession of
Christianity.
Swayed by Two Natures
The
double-minded [and regenerate] man in James 1: 8 is one who
is alternately swayed by the two natures, sometimes inclining to the faith of
the spiritual man, and at others to the unbelief of the fleshly nature.
In
saying all this I am quite aware, as I have pointed out, that it is contrary to
the views of many earnest Christian friends. So far from agreeing with the
facts that sin is always present with us, they say that it has not only been
cut down in the Christian as a tree, but that when he is fully sanctified the
very roots are destroyed by “God’s dynamite”,
that he has now, a clean heart, and there is no sin left in him. In short, the “old man” is absolutely gone, and the
man has now only foes without and no traitor within to contend against; this
they call complete sanctification.
I
would it were so, for such a condition would make an honest and a godly walk
extremely simple and easy; but my
painful experience is that I have not found it so, even in those who most
strongly believe it. But, on the contrary, as I
have stated elsewhere, I have seen Christians actually lose their tempers while
trying to prove that they have none to lose. Besides which, such a view is
surely directly opposed to the Word of God, which declares that “If we say that we have no sin, we deceive
ourselves, and the truth is not in us” (1 John 1: 8).
This
does not mean that we are not truthful, but that God’s truth does not possess our
souls in this matter. To me this verse, to say nothing of other passages, is
conclusive.
When
then does the lower nature actually leave the [regenerate] believer,
so that the watchfulness of faith and the stick and bridle are
no longer needed?
I believe
to the Christian it is at death. Just as my death with Christ
by faith puts an end to the “old man” to faith, so my actual death puts
an end to it in fact for each individual, for in Romans
8: 10 sin, the lower nature, is
identified with the body, and the body is said to be “dead because of sin”. But the body is not literally dead till we expire,
and I believe that in that moment ‘the man’ alone
remains, and the existence of ‘the mule’ is at
last ended in fact, as it has long since to faith.
I
therefore believe that Scripture teaches that though we have sin in us there is
no absolute necessity for us to sin; and that my responsibility, 1 repeat once more, is by faith and by
Divine power never to allow the lower nature to show any sign of life. Such is
our resource against our greatest enemy according to Scripture.
Practical Suggestions
Let
us now proceed to give a few practical suggestions that may be helpful in the
present day. The first fact that strikes us when we come to
think upon the relations of the spiritual life. to
the body is the alteration in physical temperament that prevails to-day, and
the changed treatment consequent upon this from a spiritual point of view. Of course the whole conditions of life are altered beyond
recognition; and the slow-living, slow-thinking men of one or two hundred years
or more ago, with their open-air lives and quiet surroundings, have disappeared
for ever. The changed, unhygienic, crowded, and hurried conditions of life
to-day seem to have given rise to an asthenic or weaker type of body, which
demands very different treatment than that called for by the boisterous animal
type of time past. The temperament is now far more nervous and more vitalised.
Look at the riotous animality of early man, the amazing record of kings such as
Solomon, and the still more amazing lives of other Eastern potentates,
remembering also that they did but reflect the prevalent type of their times;
and compare them with the average British householder of to-day. The fact is, the body now wants a spur
quite as much as a bridle, and the “mule” which
formerly ran away with the man into all sorts of excess, now often lies down
and refuses to move at all. The two natures are still there, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde both exist,* but the body can no longer run to the same riotous
excess, and its treatment is of a changed order.
* There can be no doubt that one of the most remarkable illustrations of
these two natures is contained on a small book, ‘The
Strange Adventures of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde”, by Robert Louis Stevenson. In it is
described a house at the corner of a square, whose rear extends into a low,
poor street; a small back door gives access from it into the house. In and out
of this door passes the most repulsive of human beings, Mr. Hyde, a monster of low, mean cruelty, without
heart or humanity. On the other hand, the great door of the house that
opens on the square is used my the justly honoured Dr.
Jekyll, a physician of great repute,
unblemished honour, and large and generous heart. No one suspected any
connection between these two men, nor was it the least obvious that the mean back door in the street had any
relation to the great corner house in the square. Eventually, however, it transpire that the two men and the two houses
are one, and that, by means that need not here be detailed, Dr. Jekyll could
become Mr. Hyde, and Mr. Hyde Cr. Jekyll at will.
This
is the old history of the two natures on one man, and no one can read it
without recalling the terrible records
that at times disfigure our newspapers concerning crimes committed by ministers
of religion or well-known philanthropists through the outbreak of their lower
natures. Many houses in
A strong body verses A
weak body
Nowadays
the servant of God has often to think of strengthening the body for spiritual
service rather than of repressing its fleshly activities. It must be remembered
that while a strong body willingly obeys
the spirit, [and
the Holy Spirit,]* the weak one [our
human ‘spirit’] tends to rule it, and is very hard to manage. In fact, the weakness of the body may stimulate the
lower nature into activities disastrous to the Christian, * instead of the usual order of the lower nature
stimulating the body. Moreover, the body may be so weak as to obscure the
powers of the mind so that it may become
hard to believe in or to realise any spiritual truth, and at times even advanced
believers may temporarily lose all interest in Divine things. Amongst early
Christians, when the body was of the sthenic or strong type, asceticism was
necessarily carried to a great length; but there can be no doubt that the health
is often now seriously injured by endeavouring to restore a spiritual state by
such practices, when it has really been lost rather through physical weakness
than by excesses.
[* See Acts. 5: 1-11 and compare
with verses 28-33 with 1 John 3: 22-24, R.V. These texts are conditional upon our obedience
to the will of God. If we ignore God’s warnings we may expect
His judgment, and chastisement which will surely follow (Heb. 10: 26-39; Col. 3: 25, R.V.): and if our repentance is not
forthcoming, (before the time of Death and Judgment Heb.
9: 27), then our Resurrection, (as “accounted worthy” servants, (Luke 20: 35. cf. Phil.
3: 11) to
the promised millennial “inheritance” (Rev. 20: 4, 5) will
be lost! See Eph. 5: 5, 6. See Acts 7: 4b, 5, R.V. and
compare Heb. 11:
8, R.V. with Heb.
12, 6-11 and verse 17,
R.V.]
A
wise archbishop wrote to one of the clergy the other day that the cure for his
evil thoughts was not flagellation, but a course of
A weak body
verses a strong spirit
If,
however, the body itself has got weaker, there can be
no doubt the spirit has advanced in the opposite direction, not only in the
higher but also in the lower nature. A weaker body is
therefore now dominated by a stronger spirit, and many of the fleshly
sins by which a Christian profession is so often disgraced are not so much the
result of physical passions as of an evil mind and thoughts. This development
of mind and spirit does not make for increased physical health, but, on the
other hand, in an earnest Christian they should make the control of the body by
the higher spirit an easier task. We must understand that the fleshly passions
of the body are not to be removed by the destruction
of all desire; this is Buddhism rather than Christianity. It is a poor thing,
remarked another wise Bishop, to put off the “old man”
merely to put on the “old woman”. The contrary
of this is the truth, for a weakened type of body may not imply a weaker, but a
more powerful spirit.
There
can be no doubt, speaking generally, that a body kept strong and in health is a
greater safeguard against sin than one which is weak
and debilitated.
Sound and Good Thinking
Another
great remedy against evil is sound and good thinking. The
general exhortation of the apostle: “Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true,
whatsoever things are honourable, whatsoever
things are just, whatsoever things are pure,
whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and
if there be any praise, think on these
things” (Phil. 4: 8), is the best form of auto-suggestion,
for as an old proverb says: “As a man thinks, so is he”.
The mind as well as the body should be kept in health by
varied interests and occupations. Such a condition is much less liable
to fall into sin than when the life is kept in one
rigid groove. For the mind, varied studies in art, literature, or nature,
history or archaeology, sociology, or various forms of practical philanthropy
afford great relief. And for health, as I have already
said, some physical hobby or recreation should be thoroughly enjoyed in
intervals of leisure, for spiritual reasons of the highest character. I know it
is difficult for earnest Christian men to leave their exalted level for some
apparently useless occupation or relaxation, but let me assure them that it is
a mistake to consider these useless; for on the contrary, they are not only
great helps to health, including spiritual health, but are even safeguards
against tendencies to sin. Nothing can, of course, overrate
the healthful influence of the peace and joy of the Christian in his spiritual
work; but he is so constructed by his Maker that he must have change and
recreation, and far from looking upon these as lapses from the higher life, he
must learn that they are most efficient aids to it.
While
I thus dwell a little upon some of the humbler means by which the Christian
profession can be honestly maintained, it is not because I do not know that
there are not greater and higher powers to help us, but rather because the
conditions of which I have spoken are so little known or understood.
God-provided Remedies
When
we turn to consider the practical remedies that God has placed at our disposal
against sinning, we recognise that they are of far greater power and efficacy than
those of which we have just spoken. The first and greatest power for a holy and
consistent walk in the Christian life is the personal knowledge of God.* This knowledge is reached by faith, by meditation, and by
prayer. By faith, in so realising that He is my Father, that
I learn to see Him and know Him. By meditation, in so waiting
upon God so as actually to dwell in His
presence in spirit. By prayer, which includes all intercourse with the Divine, in absolutely
speaking and talking to my Father in Heaven. The results of such
knowledge practically enjoyed is, first of all, that my soul is satisfied, and
does not therefore become a ready prey to the lusts of the world or the snares
of the devil. The next is that any
lapse, however slight, from a life that honours God, brings positive pain,
inasmuch as it always interferes with this spiritual knowledge. The
presence of God is really the only place of safety for a Christian spirit, and
long enjoyed it brings another force into play. We have seen something of the
power of evil habits, but the power of
good habits is just as great, and the habit of a spiritual life is a great
antiseptic for the soul, and keeps it sweet and pure.
* See
“The Knowledge of God,” by the Author. (Pickering & Inglis).
Then,
again, when in the presence of God I am not only
content or satisfied, but I am conquered, I become God’s slave. In ordinary conditions there is much conflict in the Christian soul. “The flesh lusteth against the
Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh”
(Gal. 5: 17), but
where God is thus known no battle is ever possible. The only reason why our
evil nature and fleshly desires ever overcome us is simply because spiritual communion is lost; when we
behold God, Love conquers all. It is this that changes our thoughts and desires
and our practices into harmony with His will, and makes us “aim, whether at home or absent, to
be well-pleasing unto Him” (2 Cor. 5: 9).
Beginnings of Evil
The
moment one feels or knows that the spiritual life is in a state of deadness within,
one must maintain the closest watchfulness against any beginnings of evil. In
the presence of God the spiritual life is so strong that evil is not in
question., but in the Christian this life both ebbs and flows, and when it is,
as it were, low tide, the sternest self-restraint and self-control is
absolutely needed, that at any rate the outward life of the man may not
disgrace his profession. Our constant prayer should be:
“Lead us not into
temptation, but deliver us from the evil one”. It is always at our weak moments, when off our guard,
that temptation suddenly and horribly assails us. It is then that in a moment,
before we have time to summon spiritual forces to our aid, that we may be
overcome; and a man may thus begin the day with God and yet before night fall
into the snare of the devil.
I am quite aware that mere words cannot help in a
matter like this, but they may serve to point out to the earnest soul who
really desires to live honestly, and who trembles lest he should bring disgrace
upon that holy Name by which he is called, not only the real source of his
strength, but some of those minor safeguards which are but little known though
often of great use.
*
* * *
* * *
736
THE
SALVATION OF THE SOUL
HOPE, INHERITANCE, SALVATION
By ALREN L. CHITWOOD
[PART THREE]
“Blessed be the
God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which
according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively [‘living’] hope by [‘through’] the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
[Lit. ‘Out of dead ones’]
To an inheritance
incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved [‘preserved’] in heaven for you,
Who are kept by the power of
God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time:” (1 Peter 1: 3-5).
Peter in his epistles, as James in his epistle, directs
his message to the regenerate, not the unregenerate. Peter’s message is for the “elect,” those who have been “begotten” from above,
those in a position to receive the Word of God into their saved human spirits,
those who have been called “out of darkness into his marvellous light,”
those who have “obtained mercy,” those who are “strangers and pilgrims” on the earth, those who
have “obtained like
precious faith with us” (1 Peter 1: 2, 3, 23; 2: 1, 2, 9-11; 2 Peter 1: 1).
The
Epistles of 1, 2 Peter have
been written to encourage [regenerate] Christians
who are being tried and tested by holding up before them prizes, rewards, compensations. The subject matter in
these epistles, set forth at the very beginning, concerns a present “living hope,”
a future “Inheritance,”
and a future “salvation”; and encouragement for proper conduct in trials and testings is derived from a “knowledge” (cf. 1 Peter 1: 2; 2 Peter 1: 2-8) of God’s revelation concerning these things.
A PRESENT, LIVING HOPE
Christians
have been “begotten” from above unto a “living hope”
through the “resurrection
of Jesus Christ from the dead.” Christ lives, and Christians will live with Him. But this fact is not the object of one’s hope. Hope is described as “living” because of [His
“out of dead ones” (Acts
4: 2, Lit. Greek)] resurrection, but a Christian’s hope lies in things beyond [a similar
and select
(Phil. 3:
11)] resurrection. These things are revealed in the text to be an “inheritance” and a [future] “salvation.”
“Hope,” “inheritance,” and “salvation” are
inseparably linked in Scripture. It is only because we are
saved (passive, salvation of the spirit [at the time of our
regeneration]) that we can possess “hope.” And hope looks ahead to the reception of an inheritance within
a salvation (future, salvation of the soul) to be revealed.
Christians are commanded to “be ready always to give an answer
to every man that asketh you a reason of
the hope that is in you with meekness
and fear” (1 Peter 3: 15b). Since this hope pertains to a future
inheritance and salvation, one’s “reason” for this hope must also be futuristic in scope. Thus, to respond in
accordance with 1 Peter 3: 15,
Christians must be
knowledgeable concerning scriptural teachings pertaining to the salvation of the soul.*
[* See Ps.16: 10; cf. Luke
16: 23, 31;
Acts 2: 27,
34; 7: 4b, 5, R.V -
relative to their promised earthly “inheritance”
- waited
for by “the souls, presently “underneath the altar
… them that had
been slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held:” (Rev. 6: 9-11). cf.
(Matt. 16:
18.)]
The
Christians’ hope is a subject found numerous places throughout
the Pauline epistles, Hebrews, and the
general epistles. Two of the best books to help Christians understand exactly
what is involved in the hope which they possess are
the Books of Hebrews and Titus. Both books deal with the same subject
matter as 1, 2 Peter.
1. “HOPE” IN HEBREWS
In
Heb. 6: 11, 12 a Christian’s hope is associated with “faith,” “patience [‘patient endurance’; long waiting during the pilgrim
walk for postponed promises],” and the “inheritance” set
before Christians. This hope is to be held with “diligence” until the “end” with a “full assurance”
that the hope of one’s calling will [or
might] be
realized. The “end [Gr. telos]” in this passage is the same “end” set forth in 1 Peter 1: 9: “Receiving the end [Gr. telos] of your faith, even the salvation of
your souls.” The end in both
instances has to do with “faith” brought
to perfection, maturity through “works” (cf. James 2: 22).
In
Heb. 6: 18-20 the “hope”
set before Christians is stated to be an “anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and
which entereth into that within the veil.” Christ Himself resides beyond the veil in the Holy of
Holies; and His future ministry, “after the order of Melchizedek,” rather than His present ministry (after the order of
Aaron), is in view (v. 20). An anchor, firmly secured,
will moor a ship that it might withstand the movements of currents, winds,
etc., and remain in a certain place; and the anchor of our souls, firmly
secured in the very presence of Christ beyond the veil, provides protection
from the onslaught of the enemy in order that we might be “steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding
in the work of the Lord” (1 Cor. 15: 58). The salvation of our souls is
in view, and just as a ship in mooring is continually being
drawn toward the place where its anchor lies, we are continually being
drawn toward the place where our anchor lies - unto Christ and His Melchizedek
priesthood.
The
Book of Hebrews is built around five major
warnings, and, prior to the writer’s comments concerning “hope” in chapter seven,
he had previously introduced the Christians’ “hope” in the second warning (chs. 3, 4) by showing
the relationship between hope and faithfulness. The central portion of the second warning, introducing
“hope,” is Heb. 3: 6: “But Christ as a Son
over his own house; whose house are we, if we hold fast the confidence and rejoicing of the hope firm
unto the end.” This hope within
the text has to do with the house of
Christ; and within the context (chs. 3, 4), in order to teach Christians the deep things of God in this area,
there is a parallel between the house of
Christ and the house of Moses. This parallel constitutes a type-antitype treatment of Israelites under
the leadership of Moses with Christians under the leadership of Christ. The
experiences of the Israelites under Moses have their counterpart in the
experiences of Christians under Christ. All have been “written for our admonition,
upon whom the ends of the
world [‘ages’] are
come” (1 Cor. 10: 6, 11).
Christians are presently members of the house of
Christ in the same sense that those who appropriated the blood of the paschal
lambs in
The
key words in Heb. 3:
6 pertaining
to hope are “confidence” and “rejoicing.” The
Greek word translated “confidence” (parresia) has to do with being “bold,” or “courageous”;
and the word translated “rejoicing” (kauchema) has
to do with the “object of boasting,” a “thing of pride.” Christians are to be bold,
courageous as they journey toward their heavenly [millennial] inheritance; and they are to exult in the hope set
before them. They are to display this hope as the very object of the salvation which they possess in such a manner that the One Who
secured this hope for them will receive the praise, honour, and glory.
2. “HOPE” IN TITUS
The
Epistle of Titus centers around the Christian’s
relationship to both “hope” and “the coming age,” for it is in the coming age that the hope of our
calling will be realized. Hope in Titus 2: 13 is called “that blessed hope” and is associated with the “appearing of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus
Christ” (A.S.V.). The
rendering of the Greek text actually makes hope synonymous with the appearing of this [future] glory.
Christians are the ones who possess this hope, as they are the ones who are to [hope
to]
be partakers of Christ’s glory when it is revealed.
In this respect, participation in the coming [millennial (Habakkuk 2: 14;
cf. Isaiah
2: 17-21;
35: 1, 2, R.V.) reign and manifested] ‘glory’ of Christ will be the realization of one’s
present hope, for one cannot be separated from the other.
The
word hope is
also used in this same framework in its two other appearances in Titus (1: 2, 3: 7). In Titus 1: 1, 2 hope is associated
with a “mature knowledge
of the truth [‘acknowledging’ (verse 1) is epignosis (mature knowledge) in the
Greek text],” and with “aionios life, which God, that cannot lie,
promised before the world began” (verse 2). In Titus 3: 7 this “hope” is
reserved for the justified alone, and it
has to do with an inheritance:
“That being ‘justified’ by his grace, we should be
made ‘heirs’ according
to the hope of aionios life.”
The
Greek word aionios appearing in Titus 1: 2, 3: 7,
translated “eternal” in most English versions, does not itself mean “eternal.” The
Greek language actually contains no word for “eternal.” Aionios can be, and many times is, used in the sense of “eternal”; but this meaning is derived
from its textual usage, not from the word itself. Aionios
refers to “a period of time,” usually thought
of as “an age.”
The only way the Greek language can express “eternal” apart from
textual considerations is by using the noun form of aionios (aion) in the plural (“ages” [e.g., Luke 1: 33; Heb.
13: 8]), or by using aion twice in the plural (“unto the ‘ages [aionas]’ of the ‘ages [aionon]’” [e.g., Rev. 1: 6, 18; 4: 9, 10; 5: 13, 14; 7: 12; 10: 6; 11: 15; 14: 11; 15: 7; 19: 3; 20: 10; 22: 5]). A person using the Greek language thinks in the sense
of “ages,” with eternity being thought of
in the sense of “endless ages,” i.e., “aeons,” or “the aeons of the
aeons.”
Aionios life in Titus
1:
2; 3: 7 - a hope
associated with an inheritance set before the [regenerate] believer - must be understood contextually to mean
“age-lasting,” referring to the coming age, the Messianic
Era. “Eternal
life” cannot be in view at
all. Neither “hope” nor “inheritance” is used pertaining to
eternal life which Christians presently possess, but both words are used numerous times
concerning Christians and their relationship to the coming [millennial] kingdom, which is what is involved in the Book
of Titus. The hope
(blessed hope) set before every Christian is
simply that he/she may, at the judgment seat of Christ, be found qualified to
occupy one of the numerous, proffered positions with Christ in His kingdom.
A Christian - already in possession of
eternal life - may or may not
realize this hope, for such
depends entirely upon one’s faithfulness during the present pilgrim walk.
A FUTURE
INHERITANCE
The
future inheritance of the saints (1 Peter 1: 4), mentioned
numerous times in Scripture, must be understood from the standpoint of the inheritance surrounding the birthright.
The word translated “birthright” in
the New Testament is from the Greek word prototokia, a plural noun which should be properly rendered, “the rights of the firstborn.” This word points to the fact that the birthright consists of a plurality of rights, which are all to be inherited.
The
rights of the firstborn in the Jewish economy in the Old Testament consisted of
three things: 1) ruler of the household under and for the father, 2) priest of the family, and 3) reception of a double portion of the father’s estate. Every Jewish firstborn son was in line to receive this
inheritance; but,
according to the Record, this inheritance was forfeitable. The positional standing as firstborn son did not
itself guarantee that the inheritance would be received. A firstborn
son, through rebellious actions, could forfeit the rights of
primogeniture.
Two
classic examples of the forfeiture of the birthright by firstborn sons are given in the Book of Genesis,
the book wherein the roots of all Biblical doctrine lie. One is the account of Esau, and the other is the account of Reuben.
1. REUBEN AND THE BIRTHRIGHT
Reuben,
the firstborn of Jacob, was in direct line to inherit the rights of
primogeniture; but because of one grave
sin committed during his life, Reuben forfeited these rights. Reuben’s sin,
resulting in the forfeiture of his birthright, was sexual impropriety of a nature which
dishonoured and shamed his father: “Reuben went and lay
with Bilhah his father’s concubine” (Gen.
35: 22).
Because
of this one sin, years later when Jacob called his twelve sons into his
presence shortly before his death to relate what would befall them “in the latter days,” Reuben hard the words:
“Thou art my firstborn, my
might, and the beginning of my strength, the excellency of dignity, and
the excellency of power:
Unstable as water, thou shalt not
excel; because thou wentest up to thy father's bed; then defiledst thou it: he
went up to my couch” (Gen. 49: 3, 4).
The
tribe of Reuben, as Jacob prophesied, did not excel. From this tribe came no
judge, no king, and no prophet. That which Reuben lost, he lost forever. But he himself remained a son of Jacob and was blessed in
measure, but not as the firstborn.
Reuben’s
birthright was divided among three of his brothers.
The tribal rulership was bestowed upon “
During
the Kingdom Age the status created by Reuben’s sin
will still abide. The King will be of
the house of
2. ESAU AND THE BIRTHRIGHT
Esau, as Reuben, forfeited his birthright. In
Esau’s case the entire inheritance went to his younger
brother, Jacob. Esau forfeited his
birthright to satisfy a
fleshly gratification. He sold his
birthright to his younger brother, Jacob, for a single meal (Gen. 25: 27-34).
Since
the rights of the firstborn had ultimately been promised
to Jacob (Gen. 25:
23), some
doubt that Esau ever actually possessed these rights. However, Esau was no
pretender to the rights of the firstborn. The Greek word translated “sold” in Heb. 12: 16 (referring
to Esau and the birthright) is inflected in a tense
implying that the article sold belonged to Esau alone, and he was fully aware of his actions when he sold his birthright to Jacob.
In
Gen. 25: 34 we read that Esau “despised his
birthright.” The Greek word in
the Septuagint Version of the Old
Testament translated “despised”
implies that Esau regarded the birthright as a paltry, a mere
trifle. Esau regarded the birthright as practically worthless, and sold his
rights as firstborn with the thought in mind that what he was selling was of no
real value. It was only later, at a time when it was
too late, that Esau realized the value of what he had sold. As in
Reuben’s case, the forfeiture of the birthright did not affect his sonship, but
it did affect forever his relationship to Isaac as firstborn.
After
Jacob had been blessed as the firstborn in the family,
Esau, apparently for the first time, realized the value of what he had lost.
Esau then tried to retrieve the birthright, but the Scripture records that “he found no place of repentance.” After Esau realized the value of the birthright and the
finality of that which had occurred, he pleaded
with his father, Isaac, to change his mind and bless him also. Esau cried out to Isaac: “Hast thou but one blessing, my
father: bless me, even me also, O my father.” And it is recorded that “Esau lifted up his voice,
and wept”
(Gen. 27:
38).
The
word “repentance” means to change one’s mind. Esau sought to effect a change of mind on the part of his father, but “he found no place of
repentance,” i.e., “he found no place for a change of mind.” The American Standard
Version of the Bible (1901 ed.) has possibly the most accurate rendering of
Heb. 12: 17 to be
found in any of the translations presently appearing on the market. This verse
in the American Standard Version
reads,
“For ye know
that even when he afterward desired to
inherit the blessing, he was rejected; for he found no place for a change of mind in
his father, though he sought it diligently with tears.”
Isaac
could not change his mind. The
birthright had been forfeited and was beyond Esau’s
grasp forever.
3. CHRISTIANS AND THE BIRTHRIGHT
Every
Christian is presently a firstborn child of God awaiting the adoption, to be followed by the reception of the inheritance belonging to
firstborn sons. As in the Old Testament, this inheritance consists of three
things: 1) a position as ruler,
2) a position as priest,
and 3) reception of a double portion of the estate.
The position of ruler has to do with occupying a position of “power over the nations” with Christ during the coming [millennial and messianic] ‘age’ (Rev.
2: 26, 27). God’s original purpose for the creation of man in the beginning
involved rulership over the [present
sin-cursed (Gen. 3:
17, 18,
R.V.)]
earth (Gen. 1:
26-28), and following the complete redemption
of man (body, soul, spirit) [being reunited
at “the first resurrection” (Rev. 20: 5, R.V.)], and the removal of the earth from its
present position (under a curse), [(Rom. 8: 19-22, R.V.)]
this purpose will be realized. “The gifts and calling of God are without repentance” (Rom. 11: 29). God will not change His mind concerning
the reason He brought the earth out of its [pre-Adamic] ruined
state and called man into existence in Genesis, chapter one.
Redeemed individuals from the lineage of the First Adam will, in the coming age, with the Last Adam
- [our Lord Jesus Christ,
to] rule
over a restored, inhabited earth.*
[* See Psa. 37: 9, 22, 29, 34; Psa. 72.; 105: 10, 11; 110: 1, 2, 6, R.V. Cf. Luke
1: 32; Rev.
2: 25-27; 3: 21; 20: 4, R.V.]
The
position of priest has to do
with a combined kingly-priestly function which will be
exercised by Christians at the same time they are given “power over the nations.” Christians are presently “priests,” but are not presently “kings and priests.” This position is reserved
for the coming age (cf. 1
Peter 2: 9; Rev.
5: 10). Our present ministry as priests, as Christ’s
present ministry as High Priest, is connected with the tabernacle in heaven
(cf. Heb. 9: 11, 12; 10: 19, 20; 1 John 1: 5 - 2: 2). But this status of existing conditions will continue only
until the end of the present dispensation. During the coming dispensation (or
age) Christ’s ministry will no longer be connected with the tabernacle, for He
will, prior to that time, come out of the Holy of Holies in the tabernacle and
appear to Israel on earth as the great King-Priest after the order of
Melchizedek. And the Christians’ ministry at that time will
also no longer be connected with the tabernacle. Christians in that day will
appear with Christ in glory. They will appear in the position of “kings and priests” with the great “King-Priest” and will rule with Him during the day of His power.
The
reception of a double portion of the estate has
to do with both heavenly and earthly spheres of the kingdom. Christians are to
rule from the heavens over the earth as joint-heirs with Christ. Occupying such
positions really means possessing an inheritance which
is associated with both the heavens and the earth. God has promised His Son, “Ask of me, and I will give
thee the heathen [Gentiles] for thine inheritance, and the
uttermost parts of the earth for thy possession” (Psa. 2: 8). This
earthly inheritance and possession is open only to God’s Son and those who rule
from the heavens as “joint-heirs” with Him. Thus, a rule from the heavens over
the earth will incorporate this double portion.
Every
Christian is in line to receive the inheritance belonging to the firstborn;
but, according to the Record, this inheritance is forfeitable. The positional standing of the Christian “in Christ” does not itself guarantee that this inheritance will be received. A
firstborn child of God, through rebellious actions, can, as firstborn sons in
the Old Testament, forfeit the rights of primogeniture.
The
fifth and last of the five major warnings to Christians in Hebrews (12: 14-17) concerns the account of Esau and the
forfeiture of his rights as firstborn. This warning has been placed in the Book
of Hebrews in a type-antitype arrangement,
as the wilderness journey of the Israelites in chapters
three and four, to sternly remind
Christians that the things which befell Old Testament saints
can also befall New Testament saints.
The Israelites in the wilderness were in line to go in, conquer, and take possession of
the land. They were in line to realize their earthly inheritance. But the entire accountable generation, twenty years old and
above, save Caleb and Joshua, was overthrown in the wilderness. Through disobedience
those comprising this generation were denied their inheritance. Esau was in line
to receive the rights belonging to the firstborn, but he, through disobedience,
was rejected. Esau was denied
the rights of primogeniture - his rightful inheritance within the family. Christians on
their pilgrim journey, with a heavenly inheritance in connection with the
rights of the firstborn in view, can, through disobedience,
also be overthrown and be denied their inheritance “reserved in heaven.”
“To deny the parallel is to overthrow inspiration: to ignore
the parallel is to silence Scripture: to admit the parallel is to disclose a
momentous peril to the believer in Christ” (D. M. Panton).
A FUTURE
SALVATION
The
underlying theme throughout the Epistles of Peter involves our present hope which is centered in the salvation to be revealed, wherein
Christians will realize the inheritance “reserved in heaven”
for firstborn sons. During our present pilgrim walk, anticipating “that blessed hope” set before us, we are being “kept [guarded] by the
power of God through faith” for the purpose of realizing the
salvation of our souls and occupying positions as
joint-heirs with God’s Son during the coming age. The entire program of God for Christians
today moves toward this end.
As
the living hope possessed by Christians and the inheritance “reserved in heaven”
for Christians have their respective counterparts within teachings drawn from
the five major warnings in Hebrews, so does
the salvation “to be revealed in the last time.”
Heb. 1: 14 speaks of
a future salvation which is so
intimately associated with the inheritance of the saints that “salvation” itself is here said to be inherited; and Heb. 2: 3 calls this
future salvation, “so great salvation.” It is the greatest thing God could ever design for man, for it
consists of the recipients exercising power and authority from the heavens over
the earth with God’s Son within the coming world order. Through reception of
this future salvation, Christians will realize the very purpose of
their
present salvation, the goal
of their calling, the end of their
faith, even the salvation of
their souls.
However,
the first warning in Hebrews, as the other
warnings in this book, gives two sides to the overall picture; and the lessons
at the very beginning, as in subsequent warnings, are drawn
from Old Testament history. The object lesson beginning these warnings
surrounds the experiences of the Israelites in the wilderness: “For if the word spoken by
angels was steadfast, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of
reward; How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation...”
(Heb. 2: 2, 3a)?
The
“just recompense
of reward” is receiving exactly what an individual deserves. All of the
Israelites who left
The
same is true for Christians today. All [regenerate] Christians have availed themselves of the
substitutionary death of the Passover Lamb. The death of the firstborn is past
and can never be their lot, for the Passover Lamb has already died in their
stead. The danger which Christians face is not that of
being removed from the safety of the blood. Such an act is an utter
impossibility. The danger which [these] Christians face is the same as that which the
Israelites under Moses faced: Christians can be overthrown in their present
position and fail to realize the purpose of their salvation. Through obedience,
which involves a “living” faith emanating from works which the Lord has outlined for one’s life, an individual
will realize this purpose; but through disobedience, which involves a “dead” faith emanating from not doing the works which
the Lord has outlined for one’s life, an individual will not realize this
purpose. In either instance, Christians will receive a “just recompense of reward.”
The
“so great salvation” in Heb. 2: 3, synonymous with the salvation to be
inherited in 1: 14, is, within the context, associated with the inhabited earth to
come: “For unto
the angels hath he not put in subjection the world [‘inhabited earth’] to come,
whereof we speak [lit. ‘concerning which we are
speaking’]” (2: 5). Angels
occupy positions of power over the nations during the present age. But during the coming [millennial] age angels will not occupy these positions. Satan and
his angels will be cast out at the end of the present
age, and Christ with His “companions” (cf.
Heb. 1: 9; 3: 14) will
exercise power over the nations
during the coming age. The writer of Hebrews
states that this coming inhabited earth under the rule of man is what the
preceding verses concern. The inherited
salvation, the so great
salvation, has to do with the coming age when a new order of rulers will be crowned.
The
Books of Hebrews, James, and 1, 2 Peter all deal with the salvation to be revealed, the salvation
of the soul; and these books must be interpreted within this framework. The warnings in
Hebrews and works in
James have to do with
the same thing as our text in 1
Peter 1:
3-5 - a “just recompense of
reward” to be realized in the
coming age.
* *
* * *
* *
737
THE PAROUSIA
OF CHRIST
By
D. M. PANTON, B.A.
‘PAROUSIA’ - a
word which is the cardinal pivot of all Second Advent
truth, and the keystone in the arch of unfulfilled prophecy - in itself states merely
a stationary presence, and is a ‘coming’ only
when linked with words implying motion. The ‘Parousia of Christ,’ used by the Holy Spirit as a technical expression, the Psalmist
exquisitely unfolds. “He bowed the heavens also, and
came down; and thick darkness was under His feet ... He made darkness His hiding
place, His pavilion round about Him; darkness of waters,
thick clouds of the skies” (Ps. 18: 11).
Christ’s downward motion stops: His people’s upward motion stops: the Lord
silently forms His Royal Court in a pavilion of cloud. The Parousia is thus
secret - a hiding place; it is stationary - a pavilion; it is invisible - in
thick darkness; and it is the centre of rapture - “He sent from on high, He took me.” For thus our Lord is to return.
He
ascended visibly, and was wrapt from sight in cloud: but He is to “so come in like manner” (Acts 1:
11), -
that is, the process is to be reversed: He descends invisibly, concealed by
clouds, and then bursts forth, visibly and bodily, as the Sun of righteousness.
The interlude is the Parousia.
The Parousia
The
Parousia serves purposes of vital import to the Church. It is
thither saints are to be rapt, encompassed, as our Lord was, with clouds “we that are alive, that are left, shall together
with them be caught up [‘a sudden and
irresistible seizure by a power beyond us’: Dr. Eadie] in the clouds to meet the Lord”; a reunion, not on earth, nor in the heaven
of heavens, but “in the
air” (1 Thess.
4: 17);
as homing doves flock to their airy dovecotes (Is. 60: 8).
The Parousia is our ark of refuge. “In the covert of Thy presence Thou shalt hide them from the plottings of man: Thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Ps. 31: 20). It is the heavenly Tabernacle against which Anti-christ, enraged by
the loss of his prey, hurls impotent blasphemies. “And he opened his mouth for
blasphemies against God, to blaspheme His name,
and His tabernacle, even them
that tabernacle in the heaven” (Rev. 13:
6). Thus the ‘epiphany’ or manifestation to the Church (1 John 3: 2; 2
Tim. 4: 8) occurs in the ‘parousia’: the epiphany to the
world (2 Thess. 2: 8) is
delayed until the ‘apocalypse’ (2 Thess. 1: 7).
Judgment
The
Parousia is also the judgment court of the Church. Judgment begins at the House of God (1 Pet. 4: 17): for “after a long time the lord of those servants cometh and maketh
a reckoning with them”
(Matt. 25:
19).
Within the Parousia are enacted the Virgins, the Talents, the Pounds: here
converts are presented by the evangelist (1 Thess. 2: 19): here
the disciple’s heart and life are examined (1 Thess. 3: 13), and blamelessness (1 Thess. 5: 23) or shame (1 John 2:
28) revealed. For the Household is examined in camera: the Bema is set up in the Throne-room:
and the approval of the Judgment Seat is the supreme reward of the disciple,
and an incorruptible motive of holiness. “We make it our aim to be well-pleasing unto Him. For we
[disciples] must all be made manifest before the
judgment seat of Christ; that each one may receive the things done in
the body, according to what he hath done,
whether it be good or bad” (2 Cor.
5: 10).
The
Millennium
The
Parousia of Christ runs simultaneously with the Parousia (2 Thess. 2: 9) of
Antichrist: the heavenly Parousia is the advanced outpost whither God recalls
His ambassadors, on the outbreak of war against the world and the last
judgments of God. “The Lord also thundered in the heavens, and the Most High uttered His voice; hailstones and coals of fire. And He sent out His arrows and scattered them; yea, lightnings manifold, and discomfited them”
(Ps. 18: 13; Rev. 8: 5; 10: 3; 11: 19; 16: 10). But Antediluvian and Sodomic
wickedness recur, and remain obdurate, during the Parousia. Matt. 24: 37. At length ripeness of iniquity below, and the
close of the judgment scene above, together produce the break-up of the
Parousia; scattering clouds on a sudden reveal to every eye the triple glory (Luke 9: 26)
burning in the heart of the Pavilion. “For as the lightning cometh
forth from the east, and is seen even unto the west; so shall be the presence [see Revised Margin throughout] of the Son of Man” (Matt. 24: 27); who shall paralyse Antichrist by the manifestation, or outburst, of His Parousia (2 Thess. 2: 8) and “then shall the righteous shine
forth as the sun in the
kingdom of their Father” (Matt. 13: 43). Our Lord’s feet alight upon Olivet. (Zech.
14: 4).
Watch
So the
Presence is to be the lode-star of the Church: for its Bema is the criterion
for all regenerate life and conduct. Nothing stands between us and the summons of God. “Know this, that if the
master of the house had known in what watch the thief was coming” - silently, secretly, suddenly, as a thief comes - “he would have watched, and would not
have suffered his house to be broken through. Therefore be ye
also ready: for in an hour
that ye
think not the Son of Man
cometh” (Matt. 24: 43). Holiness is the supreme passport into the Presence. Luke 21: 36; 1 John 3: 3. “The miller’s apron, the baker’s cap, the labourer’s coat,
the housewife’s gown, are all suitable material for ascension robes”:
every day, every hour, puts in a stitch, or drops one, in the garment of our
coming glory. Rev. 19: 8. “What I say unto you I
say unto all, WATCH” (Mark 13:
37).
*
* *
LOVING
OTHERS
“Suffer others to be praised in thy presence, and entertain
their good and glory with delight; but at no hand disparage them or lessen the
report, or make an objection; and think not the advancement of thy brother is a
lessening of thy worth. Be content that he should be employed, and thou laid by as unprofitable; his sentence approved, thine
rejected; he be preferred, and thou be fixed in a low employment. Never compare
thyself with others, unless it be to advance them and
to depress thyself. To which purpose, we must be sure in some sense or other to
think ourselves the worst in every company where we come; one is more learned
than I am, another is more prudent, a third more honourable, a fourth more
chaste, or he is more charitable, or less proud. For the humble man observes
their good, and reflects upon his own vileness.” - JEREMY TAYLOR
PURITY
The pure in heart are they whose hearts God hath
purified through faith in the blood of Jesus, from every unholy affection; who, being cleansed from all filthiness of flesh and
spirit, perfect holiness in the love and fear of God. They
are, through the power of His grace, purified from pride by the deepest poverty
of spirit; from anger, from every unkind or turbulent passion, by meekness and
gentleness; from every desire but to please and enjoy God, to know and love Him
more and more, by that hunger and thirst after righteousness which now
engrosses their whole soul; so that now they love the Lord their God with all
their heart, and with all their soul and mind and strength.
ATONEMENT
How wonderfully full the Passover is of truth concerning the Second Coming of our Lord.
The whole assembly of
BLESSING IN
RETREAT
Patience is hard, sometimes. Whilst I am climbing the
mountains, passing through the wilderness, daring dangers, I feel comparatively
quiet, or even glad. But to sit down when the angel
tells me to sit, and not to stir till he comes back again - who can do it?
There are lines of retreat in every great life, when Christ must be driven into
Egypt, when the prophet must be banished into solitude, when John the Baptist
must be in the desert eating locusts and wild honey, when Saul of Tarsus must
be driven off into Arabia - times when “in patience we must possess our souls.” But an asylum need not be a tomb, retreat need not be
extinction. Make the best of your leisure. You want to be at the front, instead
of that you have been banished to the rear. It is for a wise purpose. Gather
strength, let the brain sleep, yield yourself to the spirit of the quietness of
God, and after what appears to be wasted time or unprofitable waiting, there shall come an inspiration into thy
soul that shall make thee strong and fearless, and the banished one shall become the centre of nations. - Dr. JOSEPH PARKER.
*
* * *
* * *
738
THE JEW AND
THE CHURCH AS SIGNS
By W. P. HICKS,
B.D.
There are so
many aspects of prophetic truth that one could deal with, that one is somewhat puzzled exactly as to what line
to take.
It
has been a great delight to hear Mr.
George Jeffreys’ exposition of that wonderful
chapter, and the revelation that has been made to us
by Mr. Panton has deeply impressed
our minds. It must be obvious to every prophetic student that in the next few
years the world has to reckon with the Jew. I think it was Sir Winston Churchill - who I suppose
would not look upon himself as a religious leader - who published some time ago
an article in which he called attention to the fact that the Jews are becoming
aggressive in two directions: on the one hand a section of Jews are running
wild into Bolshevism and anarchy, and, as has been so abundantly shown,
preparing the way for the Antichrist; the other section we see connected with
Zionism, a movement that has been gathering power for the last twenty years in
its efforts to regain the Promised Land for the Jews, and for the whole house
of Israel.
I
would like to call your attention to familiar words in the book of Deuteronomy, which have some bearing upon this. When God
scattered Israel amongst all nations, He had a definite purpose and plan; and
one thing that we must realise in these days - one thing that we are bound to
realise ere long, unless the Lord comes, as He may come even to-day - is that God has a purpose in the Jew, and in the Israelite. We speak of the
Jew sometimes as if we meant the whole house of
A Plan for
the World
concerning
the children of
- The Prophetic
News.
*
* * *
* * *
739
THYATIRA AND
By EDGAR AINSLIE
THE
Thyatira
is the well-known symbol of a system born of Jezebel (Rev.
2: 20, 23). This
system lives on to-day, and is growing by leaps and bounds
and will eventually become the nucleus of mystical
Our Lord’s long-suffering will continue until that
moment arrives when in the role of the Scarlet Woman, sitting enthroned as mistress and queen of this apostate
world [Bible teachers] and leading as her consort the Beast of the Roman
Empire, the last and greatest monarch of Christendom, she falls to rise no
more, and this great system, conceived by Jezebel in Thyatira, and which,
through the centuries known as the Dark Ages, made the most powerful monarchs
tremble, passes on to her well-merited doom. When the child of Thyatira becomes the “mother of harlots,” and these
harlots give birth to the cults and isms of guilty Christendom, and all are placed in the Devil’s melting pot, the Scarlet Woman
appears.
Had this church judged this sin and put away this foul
hateful woman from their midst, how different things might have been to-day. The laxity of the church to-day is appalling in this
very thing and terrible sins are sanctioned by the
church. A principle given by divine authority in the Holy Scriptures is that, when sin is committed among the people of God, the saints are duty
bound fearlessly and righteously to judge that sin by the Scriptures.
Failure to do so was the sin of Thyatira, and it later bore its bitter fruit.
In
the Church at
Some
of the great truths that were recovered were:
1. The authority of the Bible over the
authority of the Roman Catholic Church. The great debates surged around this rock. The Bible
had been a closed book, and only the priests had access to it. Now it began to
be an open book. The heavenly light streamed again from its pages dispelling
the gross darkness of Romish superstition.
2. Justification by Faith Alone. This doctrine had been lost in the rubbish of papal
superstition. This imprisoned truth rose again from its tomb and set the soul
free. Its grave-clothes removed, it set forth on a new ministry to bless the
hearts of men. It was this truth coming with all its
quickening power that saved Martin Luther as he foolishly climbed the stairs of
3.
4. Freedom of Speech. The priest was the mouthpiece of
5. Confession of Sin to God Alone. The auricular confessional has been the cesspool of
iniquity since its invention. Civil authorities, to protect its victims, had to
legislate against this wicked practice to safeguard women who, through
delusion, came to pour out all their sins to the wily priest who pried her
heart with indecent questionings. Would to God that the American people would
inform themselves as to how this licentious practice is ruining the body and
soul of the millions of its victims. There is no mediator between God and man
but Jesus Christ. Mary cannot intercede, Peter never could, saints are helpless
here, priests can never come between God and man. Only
Jesus Christ can do this.
6. The Lord’s Supper. The blessed institution of this memorial feast, in
spite of all its simplicity, was changed by
7. The Scriptural Doctrine of Eternal
Punishment. Even to-day
These
are but a few of the many blessings that the Reformation restored. How sad it
is to witness the trend of the times - Protestantism losing its mighty power,
turning again to Romish superstition. Like
*
* *
MARTYRDOM
The Midnight Cry gives us all a very solemn warning. “Hatred of religion grows
throughout the world whether of all religions entertained by the left or of the
true Faith as taught by Jesus, nurtured by the
right. The time will come when Christians
everywhere will be called upon to either renounce their faith or die, and that time as read by the signs is almost here
(Matt. 24: 9; Rev. 6: 9-11).”
THE ADVENT
A PASSIONATE concentration of the Advent closes the Book of the Revelation. “He which testifieth these things” - the last revelation
we have from God - “saith, Yea: I come
quickly. Amen: come,
Lord Jesus.” This ‘quickly’ is a word for the mouth of God alone, with whom a thousand years are as one day: nevertheless we know
that no dispensation has exceeded two
thousand years, and that [“after two days…” (See Hosea 6:
2, R.V. Cf. 2
Peter 2: 8, R.V. - “But forget not this one thing, beloved, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand
years, and a thousand years as one day.”)] our two thousand years are rapidly dying.* The Lord’s I come is the sum of the
whole book, and that you and I should respond is the book’s whole design.
That in this short passage - our Lord’s last words to earth, for [Christians
today, now twenty
years beyond the] twenty
centuries [according to our calendar!] - He
three times repeats, “Behold, I am coming,”
reveals that it can be, and ought to be, the throbbing heart of all our service. Dr. F. B. Meyer once asked Mr. Moody for the secret of his
success. Mr. Moody replied:- “For
many years I have never given an address without the consciousness that
the Lord may come before I have finished.”
[* These writings
are in the August 1954 issue of D. M. Panton’s “Evangelical Magazine”.]
NOTES:
[1]
A famous publisher declares, “If you are an articulate person, you utter some thirty
thousand words each day.” If these words were put
in print, they would amount to a fair sized book a day. These books would, in a
life time, fill a good sized college library. All
these books are from the same author. All reflect the life and thoughts of the
author, in his own words. And not a book can be taken
down from the shelves or withdrawn from circulation. The though is a bit
frightening. It emphasizes the fearful responsibility that goes with the gift
of speech, and also the glorious privilege that is
inherent in “speech
seasoned with grace” (Col. 4: 6). Man probably has no greater
power for good or for evil than the power of speech. “Every idle word that men shall speak,
they shall give
account thereof in the day of judgment” (Matt. 12: 36). And
into that record, went every whispered
conspiracy, every word of slander, every falsehood, every cutting remark, every
obscene utterance, every foul blasphemy. What a noble attribute is the gift
of speech! And what finer tribute to the
Giver, than to present to the library of heaven, each day, one clean volume -
thirty thousand words - dedicated to His honour!
CHARLES W.
KOLLE.
[2] Knox of
[3] Luther, during the Reformation, said, “I ardently hope that amidst all these internal dissensions on earth Jesus Christ will hasten the day of his coming.”
[4] John Wesley, Founder of the
[5] D. L. Moody, world-famed evangelist, said, “I never preach a sermon without
thinking that possibly the Lord might use that sermon to call out the last of the saints who should go
to make up the full number of God’s
elect and to being about the Lord’s coming.”
[6] Dr. G.
Campbell Morgan, the world-famous
British Bible scholar and author of a great many expositional works on the
sacred Scriptures, said, “I never begin to work in the morning without thinking that
perhaps He may interrupt my work and begin His own. I am not looking for death, I am looking for Him.”
- E. E. WORDSWORTH.
*
* * *
* * *
740
PEARLS
By DR. TREVOR
DAVIES
WHAT a wonderful parable is the life-story of a pearl!
I learn that when a grain of sand or some minute invader gets through the shell
of an oyster, the mollusc at once puts forth a secretion that covers over the
irritant, isolating the intruder and so preventing it from injuring the
organism. In time this secretion, having accomplished
its healing work, becomes a pearl, precious and highly prized by mankind. A pearl thus represents a victory; an annoyance has become a precious gem.
Do
let us take this seriously, and not dismiss it as a piece of imaginative
imagery. Let the thought sink into our minds and work within us. Pain, [for disclosing scriptural truths] don’t you see, is the possibility of greatness of soul.*
Pain of mind and heart, as well as of body, teaches us, if we will be teachable
and learn, how wondrous is the skill of the Great Physician, and how tender is
His touch, yet how firm, to bring from the bruised places and broken parts of
our lives a beauty that belongs to Him. Did not Jesus draw unto Himself
all the hurtful and hateful, all the ugly and troublesome things, and cover
them with the matchless beauty of His grace, so that they became in Him and
through Him lustrous pearls?
[* See Acts 5: 40, 41; Romans 8: 17, 18; Hebrews 2: 9; 1 Peter 2: 11; James 2: 10, 11; 2 Timothy 2: 8, 9, R.V.]
There
is a tragic element woven into the very stuff of our human life. If you and I
will not accept both the wounds that come therefrom, and the healing, transforming
power of the Saviour, we cannot know the wonder of the pearl
which through His grace we can grow within.
This
imagery and symbolism fascinates me the more I dwell upon it. The author of the
Book of Revelation tells us that there are
twelve gates to the
All
of this, of course, applies only to real, genuine pearls. To-day the great
majority are synthetic, artificial. Their vendors
boldly declare that they cannot be distinguished from the real kind. I may not
be able to tell, and you may not be able to tell the genuine from the
artificial, but the experts know the difference between a string costing a few
pounds and a rope worth thousands. They have their tests; and life provides its
own test for us. There are Christians and Christians, as there are pearls and pearls. The first are happy enough and sunny in their countenance when all is
well - but let disaster and disappointment come, let loss and tragedy tumble in
upon them, and what seemed a genuine pearl crumbles and dissolves in the acid
test of tribulation.
Still
to-day, as from time immemorial, in the bazaars of the East and in the shops of
the West the pearl-merchants unroll their piece of black velvet, and spread
upon it their pearls. Pearls need no artificial light or setting. They gleam
best against a dark background. Likewise
against the blackest background of life do these real pearls of the spirit’s
fashioning shine most gloriously.
*
* *
APOSTASY AND
THE SECOND ADVENT
The Methodist Challenge writes [1954] on the subject
of apostasy and says:- “I
cannot recall a single Methodist preacher who did not preach the second coming of Jesus, when I was a boy. Today Methodist
ministers who still preach it are scarce indeed usually found among the
‘supplies’. Few university and college men preach it. Occasionally, an ‘old
soldier,’ near the border line of superannuation,
still clings to the doctrine. Even those who preach it are very mild about it
and quickly qualify their position.”
Nevertheless, all Christians will
more or less be aroused by the Covenant and the startling signs of the times,
so much so that the prophecy foretells that the foolish virgins - the representatives
of Christians who are ignorant and bewildered in regard of these Second Advent
doctrines - will anxiously come to the wise virgins, who are Christians
thoroughly understanding and believing the doctrines: and will earnestly
entreat them, “Give us of your oil (the oil of
prophetic discernment), for our lamps are
going out (not gone out).” But the wise answer, saying,
“Not so, lest there be not
enough for us and you, but go ye rather to
them that sell (namely, the three Persons in one God, the
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who impart knowledge without money and without
price), and buy for yourself.”
*
* * *
* * *
741
A PASSION
FOR [THE SALVATION OF] SOULS
By REV. W. LEA.
WHEN I was a boy, Charlie
Peace, one of the greatest criminals, was caught - a burglar, a forger, a
double murderer - and was condemned to death.
At
the scaffold the Chaplain spoke of the power of Christ to save, when the
wretched man said, “Do you believe it? Do you believe
it? If I believed that, I would willingly crawl across
General Booth said he would like to send all his candidates for officership, to hell for twenty-four hours as the chief
part of their training. “It is not until we have vital
conviction of the irrevocable doom of the impenitent, that
our belief will crystallise into action.”
A
noted infidel once said, “Were I a religionist, did I truly, firmly consistently believe,
as millions say they do, that the knowledge and practice of religion in this
life influences destiny in another, religion should be my everything. I would
set aside earthly enjoyment as dross - earthly cares as follies. I would labour
in the cause of religion alone. I would not labour for the meat that perisheth,
nor for treasures on earth, but only for the Crown of
Glory, in heavenly regions. I would esteem one soul gained for heaven, worth a
life of suffering. Earthly consequences should never stay my hand nor seal my
lips. Earth, its joys and grief, should occupy no moment of my thoughts. I
would go forth to the world and preach to it in season and out of season and my
text should be, ‘What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and
lose his own soul?’”
In
Charles G. Finney wrote:- “To the age of 26 I was almost as ignorant of Religion as a
heathen.” Though attending services he became under deep conviction of sin.
“Finally,” he says, “I found myself verging fast to despair. My sin appeared
awful and infinite. It broke me down before the Lord.”
The
Holy Spirit fell on dozens of towns as Finney preached the Word. He said, “My words seemed to fasten like barbed wire on the souls of
men. They cut like a sword. They broke the heart like a hammer.” Where
blasphemy was rife, as the Gospel was preached to
crowded congregations, great sinners would fall from their seats under deep
conviction of sin. On one occasion Finney wrote “Nearly the whole congregation were either on their feet or
prostrate. There were too many wounded souls to dismiss the meeting and so it
was held all night.” Whilst Finney was preaching at
Dr. R. W. Dale wrote, “Everything but the
conversion of men to God can be accomplished without Divine help. We can build
sanctuaries, speak eloquently, render beautiful music, advertise, arrange for
special services, and visit and get people in.” All this we may do, as Dr. Dale puts it, without Divine aid. “We have simply laid paper, wood and coals: but where is the
fire? We may have
captivated the fancy, but have we captivated one soul for Jesus?
Have we dethroned sin in one heart? If the Holy Spirit comes upon you with
Divine Power, you will do more good in one week than you could in a lifetime
without such inducement. It is the Holy Spirit that convicts
of sin, gives power for service, and transforms lives. If multitudes are
to be saved from the abyss into which they are falling, we must be prepared to
surrender ease, position, wealth and life if need be.” One put it: “God’s people can have Holy Ghost revival whenever they are
willing to pay the price:- The abolition of all pride
and conceit and utter dependence on the Divine. In other words,
before revival can take place outside
the Church, revival must take place inside the Church. Every Church must be a Salvation Army recruiting station
and every church member a recruiting Sergeant. Who then will consecrate himself
this day unto the Lord? Even for those who are saved, it
will not be pleasant to see, standing before the Judge, on their way to Hell [i.e., “Sheol” / “Hades” (Gen. 37: 35; Num. 16: 30; Psa. 16: 10; 139: 8., LXX. Cf. Matt. 16: 18; Luke 16: 23. Acts 2: 31, 34; 1 Pet. 1: 3-11; Rev. 6: 9-11; Rev. 20: 13, 15a, R.V.etc.)]*, some whom we might have rescued if we
had been sincere and fully yielded to the Lord. So let us Pray! Pray! Pray!”
[* See “HADES” by Robert Govett, M.A.]
*
* * *
* * *
742
THE TRAGEDY
THAT IS COMING
By MOLLIE
NORTON
-------
“This deeply moving experience
helps us to make ourselves ready for the coming world-attempt,
at the close of the ages, to sweep the Church
out of existence.” - [D.M. Panton.]
A LITTLE woman braced herself and prayed silently as
Japanese soldiers menacingly held two kettles of scalding water over her.
Smiling
cruelly, they mocked her as the water was slowly and
carefully poured down her back, first over the right shoulder, then the
left. The shock and pain proved too much, and the little woman collapsed. As
she recovered a few moments later, the pain was unbearable. “Lord,” she cried aloud, “take
my life! I cannot stand it.” Then the Japanese carried her back to her
miserable cell.
This,
along with the notorious “water treatment”, was
one of the many forms of torture used against the little woman prisoner during
her months in prison, all in an effort to make her talk.
Actually,
Nannie Fredrikson, a middle-aged
Swedish missionary, had nothing to tell, except the Gospel she had come to
proclaim to the Chinese. However, as
In
misery after the boiling water experience, Miss Fredrikson yearned for a change
of clothing to replace the filthy garments which clung
to her poor, thin body. What she wouldn’t have given
for clean bandages and soothing ointment with which to dress her raw back! But
there was nothing ... nothing but pain and agony and a dirty cell
...
Suddenly
as she looked to God, Nannie Fredrikson felt on her back a Hand, cool and
refreshing as though dipped in precious ointment. To and fro
it went across the burns until the pain left. Finally
she slept, then on awakening heard a Voice saying “My
name is an ointment poured forth” (see Song
of Solomon 1: 3). Then she
understood. It was that blessed pierced Hand that had
ministered so lovingly and with such healing power.
A miracle
Today
there is not even a mark to show what happened. A physician who examined the
back some time later made this interesting comment: “Here
is a miracle indeed. The back can stand so little heat.”
I
can still see Nannie Fredrikson as she told the story in her broken English.
Never shall I forget her simplicity, nor the brightness and sweetness of her
countenance as she recounted, to God’s glory, His wonderful keeping power
during the terrible months of persecution while she was in the hands of
Japanese soldiers.
Complain?
Not a word of it! “When we
murmur or complain,” she said, “it is because Jesus Christ is so small to us.”
Miss
Fredrikson went through many trying and terrible experiences, but always found
God “a very present help”. She didn’t find it easy, for example, to be stood against a
wall, as she was one day, while the soldiers, with all the fury possible, spat
all over her, finally throwing a bottle of ink in her face. This was too much
for her, in fact, and she was “boiling inside”.
Indignation surged within as she was taken back to her cell ... and then, “Jesus came”. She saw Him standing before Pilate and
there were soldiers spitting on Him ... the Son of God. Kneeling down she asked
for forgiveness, and acknowledged that it was pride that made
her feel so resentful. God met her and gave instant victory.
Water
torture
One
dreadful method of torture used was the “water
treatment” through which many a strong person has lost his reason. One
day Miss Fredrikson was called out and forced to watch while a Chinese man was given this treatment. At the end the man could not stand
it, and died. His body was thrown on a truck and taken to a
pit for burial with the bodies of other prisoners. Turning to Miss
Fredrikson the soldiers said, “Tomorrow it may be your
turn”.
It
was.
The
little Swedish missionary was taken to another courtyard and
made to disrobe with the exception of a pair of Chinese trousers. She was then firmly tied with ropes to a wooden ladder and placed over
a pit filled with filthy rubbish. In her heart was utter peace. A boy
brought two buckets of water. The men then took a kettle and began to pour the
water into her mouth, slowly but surely. Being tied she had no choice but to
swallow, and to keep on swallowing. Fainting away a few times, she was allowed to rest a bit. When she recovered, they would
begin all over again. About four gallons of water were forced
into her, and the treatment, an agonising ordeal, took about three hours.
Just
as the treatment was started a Voice spoke: “He leadeth me beside the
still waters.” Twice the Voice
spoke.
After
she was untied from the ladder, she was made to lie on
the ground. Two boards were placed over her, one on
her breast and one on her stomach. These the persecutors used as a seesaw. O the agony! When she was dragged back to her cell she was able to thank God for His Grace, sufficient in
all circumstances.
Miss
Fredrikson stayed in our home a short while and the quiet calmness of a heart
at rest in God and the sweet fragrance of a life poured forth gladly for His
and the Gospel’s sake has never been forgotten by those of us
who met her.
And now?
Is she spending her days in retirement taking a well earned
rest? Indeed not! With heart and face set toward
- The World Christian Digest.
*
* * *
* * *
743
THE SUN IN
PROPHECY
By E. J. HYTCHE
THE fifth angel
sounds his trumpet (Rev. 9: 1-2), “and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth, and to him was given the key of the abyss, and he opened the abyss, and
there arose a smoke out of the pit as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.” Although the supernatural darkness will affect the
whole of Christendom, it would appear that its evil influence will be more specially felt in the eastern portion of the
revived Roman Empire - more particularly the eastern capital of Antichrist,
There
is another reference to this Divine intervention as Master of the stellar
system, which is of great importance, since it reveals not only the exact portion
of the sun which will be obscured, but the exact time
it will last. Thus we read that when the fourth angel
sounds his woe-trumpet (Rev. 8: 12) “the third part of the sun was smitten and the
third part of the moon, and the third part of
the stars - so as the third part of them was
darkened; and the day shone not for a third part
of it, and the night likewise.”
The
moral effect of this universal plague is indicated in
connection with the outpouring of the fifth vial. For we read that the
preternatural darkening of the sun will only lead the votaries of Antichrist to
“blaspheme the
God of heaven” (Rev. 16: 11). It is thus seen that, though judgment follows other
judgments, and one plague only harbingers another, it will not lead men to
penitence, but they will only tend - as in the case of Pharaoh - to harden
their hearts, and to add to their long catalogue of sins that of blasphemy. It
is well thus to learn that mere
punishment cannot change the heart, but, rather that it will only intensify
its rebellion - unless the Holy Spirit exert His power over the souls drugged
by sin. Never was this truth more needed to be enforced
than in these days.
This
prophetic dislocation of the stellar system, especially of the preternatural
darkness of a third part of the sun, will not occur without prior
warning, or without the exercise of patience on the part of Him who “wills that all men should be saved
and come to the knowledge of the truth.” For prior to the sounding of the woe-trumpets, which will issue in
these last plagues which will decimate an apostate world, we learn
(Rev. 8: 1) that “there was silence in heaven about the space of half-an-hour.” This pre-report of the silence of
the heavenly host seems to correspond with God’s declaration by His amanuensis Isaiah (18: 4), “I
will take My rest, and I will consider in My dwelling place”
before the whole are cut off, so that the physical phenomena which will cause “men’s hearts to fail them for
fear,” will not occur lastily, but will
rather be deferred until their penitence is hopeless.
It
would appear from Zechariah that the very
day that our Lord, accompanied
by the saints of the first resurrection, descends upon the
As
this solar phenomenon will attract the attention of the whole
habitable globe, it will probably be one of those predicted “signs” which will usher in our Lord’s Second Advent. And more even than this, for it will doubtless have a potent
moral influence, since (Ps. 64: 9) “All men shall fear,
and declare the work of God: for they shall wisely consider His doing.”
Most
scientists scorn these prophecies of the solar disturbances, affirming as they
do not only that (2 Pet. 3: 4) “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the
creation” but that any
interruption in this “reign of law” is
absolutely impossible. As a general rule this is doubtless the case, but it
must not be forgotten that at the predicted crisis the whole world will be in
such a state of apostasy as to supersede the
worship of the Most High by that of Antichrist, and this will call for the
Divine intervention unless He
surrendered His sovereignty over mankind. This will lead the remnant of the
Jews thus to appeal to the God of their fathers (Psa. 119: 126) “It is time for, Thee Lord,
to work - for they have
made void Thy law.” In answer to
this prayer, God will (Isa. 28: 21), “Do His work, His strange work - and bring to pass His act,
His strange act.” These very words, God’s “strange work,”
imply that the novel physical phenomena are out of the usual course of nature,
and that they only occur to vindicate God’s sovereignty over the universe of
matter. For He can “Do according to His will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay His hand.”
Happily
these solar dislocations will terminate at the end of the seven years’ reign of
Antichrist, and his signal defeat by the Word of God in the
Although
revelation does not supply much information respecting the sun during the
Millennium, yet we are not without some glimpses of its relation to a renovated
world. We read (Isa. 30:
26), “the light of
the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and
the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the
light of seven days - in the day when Jehovah
bindeth up the breach of His people [or the Israelites] and healeth the stroke of their wound.” This will doubtless not only promote the growth of
the vegetable and floral kingdoms, but will be one of the agents in increasing
that longevity of mankind, when, as predicted (Isa. 65: 20), he shall be regarded as a mere infant who does not
exceed one hundred years at death. For science shows
that light is as needful as pure air for health.
At
the first glance, however, this striking increase in the solar light and consequent
heat might be regarded as a curse rather than as a blessing; seeing that when
the Fourth Vial angel (Rev. 16: 8-9) pours out his vial upon the sun “power was given unto him to
scorch men with fire, and men were scorched with
great heat.” But
the physical evils which would be otherwise caused by this vast increase in the
light and heat of the sun will be mitigated by a cloud-canopy, which will
spread its benignant influence not only over
As it would be impossible without another miracle for
the predicted sevenfold increase of the light of the sun to be restricted to
the
That
eminent servant of Christ, Richard Cecil,
said that “a Christian in a
prison with his Bible could tell what is going on in the outer world.” But these revelations were not given to gratify that thirst
for the knowledge of the future of this world which thoughtful men in all ages
have yearned to discover, but rather to
stimulate and encourage the faith and Gospel labours of God’s elect. For
unhappily, as predicted, although the world has the same Bible as God’s children
(Dan. 12: 10), “none of the wicked shall understand, but the wise shall understand!” Above all, these revelations of the
future of this world ought to incite all who grieve over the gathering gloom of
our times, and the still fiercer
physical and moral storms which are at hand, to echo more fervently the
prayer of the exile of Patmos, in response to the last declaration of our
living and ascended Lord, “Surely I come quickly
... Even so, come, Lord Jesus.”
-The Prophetic News.
*
* *
WHEN JOSHUA STOPPED THE SUN
By M. A. ARTHUR
All through the ancient writings of the different peoples of the world there is this story of a day that lasted twice as long
as it should.
The
ancient Egyptian priests showed the Greek historian Herodotus records which
spoke of the long, long day. In the ancient writings of the Persians
it is found. Even among the Polynesian peoples of the islands in the
If
you read the tenth chapter of the book of Joshua, you will find that as the
battle proceeded between the Israelites and their foes and the day begins to
wear on to the afternoon, Joshua commanded the sun to stand still until he had
finished the battle and won.
The
late Professor Charles A. L. Totten, of
Joshua’s
long day, when he won the battle, it will be recalled,
was not a complete day. It lacked forty minutes of being twenty-four hours. In
the 20th chapter of the second Book of Kings,
you will find another stepping back of the calendar which
rounds out the time of a full day.
Hezekiah,
king of
Thus
was the full day rounded out in the Old Testament, the day that Professor Totten says with other astronomers is missing from the
astronomer’s calendar and which has never been accounted for.
-------
The Traditional Hebrew Script
It
was the work of the late Professor
Umberto Cassuto of
*
* * *
* * *
744
AN URGENT
DANGER
By D. M.
PANTON, B.A.
COVETOUSNESS - not only the desire of what we have not got, but the refusal to part with what we have -
God ranks among the blackest of sins. It is one of the
supreme prohibitions of Jehovah (Exod. 20: 17);
it is defined by God as “idolatry” (Col. 3: 5), a
sin, under the Law, reserved for capital punishment; it renders a [regenerate] believer so unholy that he is to be
excommunicated from the Church on earth (1 Cor. 5: 11);
and twice (1 Cor. 6: 10; Eph. 5: 5) it is
stated as involving a disciple in the loss of the millennial Kingdom. “The peril of the Church is not so much an
unorthodox creed as an orthodox greed” (Dr. A. J. Gordon). Love of money brought us the first awful
discipline of the Holy Ghost (Acts 5: 5): love
of money is the absorbing passion of the last Church named in the Word of God -
MONEY
It
is extraordinarily significant that the last thing on which our Lord’s eyes
rested in the
EARTHLY
WEALTH
“Verily I say unto you” - our Lord pledges Himself to the most startling of all revelations on
money - “this
poor widow cast in more than all”:
that is, more than any other donor, or else, more than all put together. Those
who give most often give least, and those that give least often give most. Why? Because
God judges what we give by what we keep. “For
they all did cast in of their superfluity; but
she of her want did cast in all that she had, even
all her living.” The widow had
given all she had to live on for that day; and was so walking with God that she
could trust Him for tomorrow’s meal (1 Kings 17: 15; Heb. 13: 5). God’s
scales, in weighing gifts, also weigh what is not given: so, quite literally, the poorest can give more
than the wealthiest, and all can give immense gifts: for the amount withheld exactly
determines the value of the amount given.
LOVE OF
MONEY
We
now arrive at the peril. “The love of money is a root of all kinds of evil” (1
Tim. 6: 10). It can estrange friends, divide families, and harden
hearts; nurse extravagance, pamper appetite, and foster pride; “sweat” labour, freeze up charity, and indulge every
lust - “foolish
and hurtful lusts, such as drown men in destruction and
perdition.” Every year
increases our peril. “In the last days men shall be lovers of
money” (2 Tim. 3: 2): “ye have laid up
treasure in the last days” (Jas. 5: 3): “because thou sayest, I am rich, ... thou art
miserable and poor and blind and naked” (Rev.
3: 17): “thus shall Babylon be cast down, for thy merchants were the princes of the earth” (Rev. 18: 23). “Of all the temptations none
has so struck at the work of God as the deceitfulness of riches; a thousand
melancholy proofs of which I have seen within these last fifty years. By riches I mean not thousands of pounds; but any more than
will procure the conveniences of life. Money lovers are the pest of every
Christian society. They have been the main cause of the destruction of every
revival. They will destroy us, if we do not put them away”
(John Wesley) (1 Cor. 5: 11; Mark 10: 23).
TREASURE IN
HEAVEN
How
is the peril met? “Sell that ye have, and give alms; make for yourselves purses
which wax not old, a treasure in
the heavens that faileth not”
(Luke 12: 33). No warnings on wealth are severer than
Christ’s: so there is no greater tribute to the power of money over the
human heart than the startling silence of the Church on these warnings of her
Lord. “With such
words [as 1
Tim. 6: 6-10] before him, one would think that any Christian man who is laying up
money, or is planning to do so, would at once abandon his project.” But how many are as Augustine says:- “As the fabric of the world
totters, let us quickly transfer our treasure to a world which will know no
shock.” Our Lord states the same
truth:- “Lay up
your treasure in heaven”; “for heaven and
earth shall pass away”, in shock
and storm: as the world hurries to its doom, our Lord counsels us to store all
our surplus goods, all that is above and beyond our daily needs, in Heaven. We
do well to remember the Italian proverb:- “Our best robe is made
without pockets.”
CHARITY
There
is an active, not passive, way by which this marvellous investment can be achieved. “Sell that ye have, and give
alms: make for yourselves” - by the very act of giving - “purses which wax not old,
a treasure in the heavens that faileth not” (Luke 12: 33). A friend once said to the writer:-
“In the course
of life I have lost more than £12,000 for the sake of Christ”; but he would be the first to say he had not lost
£12,000, but banked it. John Wesley,
when he was 87, and standing on the threshold of another world, said:- “One
great reason for the comparative failure of Christianity, is the neglect of the
solemn words, ‘Lay not up for
yourselves treasures on earth’.”
REWARD
So God’s
reward awaits our giving. “Charge them that are rich in this present age, that they he ready to distribute, willing to
communicate [their wealth]; laying up in store a good foundation” - the
investment of a substantial sum - “against the
time to come, that they lay
hold on the life which is life indeed” (1
Tim. 6: 19) - the glory of the Millennial Life;
or, as Mark puts it,- “in the age to come [the Millennium] eternal life.” As Augustine says:-
“Beware lest ye be like the
men of earth, who when they awaken in another world, awake with empty hands,
because they placed nothing in Christ’s hands, which were stretched out to them
in the hands of His poor and needy.” Or
as our Lord puts it:- “Make to yourselves friends by means of the mammon [a Syrian or Aramaic word meaning ‘money’] of unrighteousness” - earthly wealth - “that when ye shall fail” - in death - “they” - the
friends you have so made - “may receive you into the eternal [Gk.
‘aionios’] tabernacles” *(Luke 16: 9).
[* Can also, in this context, be
translated: “May receive you into the age-lasting mansions.” See “Dualism of Eternal Life” by S. S. Spears.]
JOY TODAY
Finally,
we receive reward here and now. The Queen of Sweden sold her jewels to provide
her people with hospitals and orphanages; and when on a visit to a convalescent
home of her own providing, tears of gratitude from a bed-ridden woman fell on
the royal hand, the Queen exclaimed, - “God is sending me
back my jewels again.”
*
* *
THE GOLDEN
AGE
Few realise the dynamic tonic for the world in the golden
age of the Second Advent, and for the Church in the
*
* * *
* * *
745
THE CHURCH
IN THE HOUSE
By D. M.
PANTON, B.A. *
[* NOTE: This
tract is from D. M. Panton’s Evangelical Magazine, December 1944.
Today 75 years later, our Churches are emptying for a
very different reason!]
IN
The Home
It
is lovely to remember that the Christian home is truly an assembly
of God. When the demoniac of
The Church In the House
But the Church in the House obviously means more than a
Christian home, and the revelation is deeply significant for the days at hand.
Such a church was in the home of Priscilla and Aquila in
the birthplaces of Christian worship, and
public buildings were not erected till the third century. When it became
dangerous to meet even in private houses, the Christians assembled in the
catacombs.” Everything in Curch life can be reproduced in
the house, even including baptism and the Lord’s Supper; with one delightful
addition - the sick and even the bed-ridden. So Paul “abode two whole years in
his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him, preaching the
kingdom” (Acts 28: 30). It has been beautifully put thus:- “The
Church of Jesus Christ is found wherever He is known, served and adored
according to His gospel; within the enclosure of the walls of a house, or in
the very caverns of the mountains, and coverts of the wilderness, whither the Holy
Spirit foretells us that the Bride of the Lamb shall be sometimes constrained
to retire” (J. Daille).*
*
The moral lawlessness abroad may yet make
the church in the house a necessity for women; if
having to walk at night alone.
A Vital
Church
The
very destruction of church buildings can restore apostolic days. In the
admirable words of an evangelist:; “It is worth
remembering that in its earliest days all the Gospel had to commend it, all it
had to give it dynamic and prestige in a hostile world was its own power in the
personal lives of men and women. The early Church had nothing but a message, it had no buildings, no money, no ‘big pots’, to
help it on. Every man’s ‘Gospel’ was living, dynamic experiences of Christ. Now in
imagination, strip the Church of its buildings, its wealth, its organisation,
its high-sounding names, its theologians, and all the other things it has
acquired. Ask what impact Christianity would make on the world if the Church
were stripped of everything save its message
and the people who have been, or are being, vitally changed by that message.”
The Church
So
therefore we study afresh that gathering of believers
which we call ‘the Church’. It has been well
said:- “No bee can gather honey on the wing: no more can
Christ’s disciples gain refreshment and sustenance in the midst of the world’s
hustle, save by habitually alighting and drawing on the resources of Christ’s
presence and grace afforded in the assemblies of the saints” (A. H. Drysdale).
When it was decided to close a prayer meeting in a
certain village, a good woman declared she
would attend if no one else did. The morning after someone said to her, - “Did you have a prayer meeting last night?” “Ah, that we did,” she replied. “How many were present?” “Four,”
she said. “Why, I heard you were there alone.”
“No,” she said, “I was
the only one visible; but the Father was
there, and the Son was there, and the Holy Spirit was there; and we were all agreed in prayer.”
Before long there was a revival prayer meeting, and a
prosperous church.
A Warning
The Holy Spirit warns of our grave danger. We, in the
last days, may be tempted to say:- This vast
destruction of churches, under the direct providence of God; the financial
impossibility of rebuilding them; persecution in many countries prohibiting
public worship; the grave departure from
faith among believers themselves:- all this indicates that we can now do
without the public assembly. Exactly opposite is the truth. “Not forsaking the assembling
of ourselves together, as the custom of some is, but
exhorting one another; AND SO MUCH THE MORE, AS YE SEE THE DAY DRAWING NIGH” (Heb. 10: 25). The
closer the battle, the more we need our armour. And so
vital is church fellowship that the Apostle immediately adds one of the gravest
warnings in Scripture. “For” - since spiritual collapse at once threatens
the absent church member - “if we sin wilfully
after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more a sacrifice for sins.” A lonely tree is blasted by
the hurricane, and lies prone on the earth: in the forest, where the trees
support one another massed together, it survives for life and fruit.
Christ
Our
Lord Himself reveals the crowning wonder of the Church. “Where two or three are
gathered together in my name, there am I in the
midst of them” (Matt. 18: 20). He
demands no special number - merely more than one, since it is a fellowship - no
special building, no special locality, no special class, no
special collection the astounding fact is that, whoever is absent, the Son of God is always there. The Church is as vitally the
Love
Our
Lord reveals the heart-throb of the Church in one of
His immense utterances. “This is my commandment, that ye
love one another, even as I have loved you”
(John 15: 12). How can we love those whom we never meet, nor ever
have met? nor let us ever forget that one great
prophecy of the end - possibly in part produced by this decline of assemblies
in our closing age - is that the love of
the many shall wax cold. The Lord’s emphasis is extraordinary: rarely using
the word ‘command’, He uses it again and again
enforcing love; it is His last command within twenty-four hours of
Christ’s
Love
Finally,
Christ immediately adds what may be the demand on our love for one another. “Greater love hath no man than
this, that a man
lay
down his life for his friends.” Even nature reveals such love. In a heath fire in Hampshire
the fire brigade noticed a cock linnet chirping excitedly near a charred bush
with a burnt nest; and still sitting on the nest was the mother-bird, which had
been burnt to death rather than desert her brood (Daily
Chronicle, May 21,
1927). But our Lord’s own love was greater. As an old
writer puts it:- “He had never loved His friends, if He had not first loved
them as His enemies.” “While we were
enemies, we were reconciled to God THROUGH THE DEATH OF HIS SON” (Rom.
5: 10).
*
* * *
* * *
746
THE REAPING
OF THE HARVEST
“When the grain is
ripe, immediately he putteth forth the sickle.” Mark 4:
29.
IN dealing with
the several harvest gatherings of souls into God’s holy presence, before, during
and after the great tribulation, we will do well to keep before us the typical
parallel of the natural harvests in
Then
fifty days later, there was a second harvest ingathering, also called the first-fruits, when sufficient grain was ripe to gather,
mill, sift, and bake with leaven into two loaves. These loaves, like the wave
sheaf, were also “waved” before the Lord, as a hallel of thanks-giving
for coming harvest. And such is the type of that first
fruits of the Spirit that we as the body of Christ will be, when He will raise
the one loaf from those who have fallen asleep in Jesus, and another loaf from
those who are alive and remain until His appearing. Both loaves will be mixed
and international in make-up. There will be leaven in them on the presentation day, and yet acceptable to our Beloved for the completing of
His perfect work. Finally, there was a typical harvest in
Owing
to the absence of knowledge concerning the time period
of tribulation prophecy, many Christians cannot understand its many references
to the saints. For instance, before the tribulation there are saints, enraptured into the
presence of Christ (Rev. 4). Then during the tribulation there is a
multitude of blood-washed souls caught up to stand before the throne of God (Rev.
7).
There is also a more limited company of redeemed ones named in chapter 14: 1-5.
This
is followed by “the harvest of the earth,” which The
Son of Man reaps in chapter
14: 14. And yet, again, in chapter 15: 2
there is a special martyr group, elevated to “the sea of glass that is mingled
with fire, having the harps of God.” Beyond all these five separate groups of
glorified saints, there is inferred another great ingathering
of Millennial saints, although their elevation to heaven is unnamed. It is
remarkable how frequently the writer is confronted
with enquiries about these groups of redeemed, sanctified and glorified
Christians.
We
have said nothing directly of the unripe ones; those sad souls who have
resisted the urge of the Holy One; whose will has not
bent before Him. To such we would lovingly recall the words of our Redeemer in Luke 21: 36: “Watch
ye therefore and pray always, that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things,
and to stand before the Son of man.” Open the door of your heart widely to Him as He
knocks once again, and asks to be admitted to the
throne of your being. Only as He is Sovereign Lord can we “Be ready.” The darkness thickens, the fire increases, the
wickedness grows, the tares mature; but the grain
must ripen also, through
rain and sun, storm and heat, to glorious harvest, increase and fullness on
every hand, to His glory at His appearing at “the last ripe time.”
-
The Intercessor
*
* * *
* * *
747
THE JUDGMENT
OF BELIEVERS
By G. H.
PEMBER, M.A.
THE Millennial Age
will be a time, not only of reward for those who will have overcome by the
Blood of the Lamb, but also of chastisement for
such [regenerate] believers
as will be found to have failed in their walk - through indolence, or the minding of earthly things, and will, consequently, be sentenced
to remain in [‘Hades’ - the] abodes of the
dead until the Last Day.* For it will then appear, that, through their lack of
earnestness and prayer for the Spirit’s help, their sanctification was not
perfected during their earth-life; and it must be so before they can dwell for
ever with the Lord. They did evil
in the body as well as good, and did not judge themselves and repent with
bitter crying before the Lord: therefore, they must be judged
by Him, and even as they did, so must they also receive.
[* See R. Govett’s “HADES”.]
Hence the judgment-seat of Christ will dispense temporary chastisement for
trespasses, as well as rewards. This is plainly indicated in the verses under our consideration,
as well as in other striking passages of the First Gospel, which, as we study
them in due course, will increase our knowledge of a solemn but disliked and
much neglected truth. We shall, moreover, find it
revealed, with equal clearness, in other parts of the New Testament.
For
instance, what does Paul mean in the subjoined passage? In speaking exclusively of those who have accepted the only true
foundation, he tells us, that it is
possible to build upon it either with gold, silver and costly stones,
or with wood, hay and stubble,
and then continues:-
“Each man’s work shall be made manifest: for the Day shall declare it,
because it is revealed in fire; and the fire
itself shall prove each man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work
shall abide which he built thereon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work
shall be burned, he shall suffer loss but he himself shall be saved; yet so as through
fire” (1 Cor. 3: 13).
And again:-
“Wherefore, also, we make it our aim, whether at
home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto Him. For we must all be
made manifest before the judgment-seat of Christ, that each one may
receive the things done in the body, according to what he hath done, whether it be good or
bad. Knowing,
therefore, the fear of the Lord, we persuade men, but to God we
have been made manifest; and I hope that we have
been made manifest also in your consciences” (2 Cor. 5: 9).
And was
not the sentiment expressed in the last verse, the
fear of the Lord’s terrible judgment of His Own House, powerfully
affecting the Apostle when he wrote:-
“The Lord grant mercy unto the
house of Onesiphorus: for he oft refreshed me, and was not ashamed of my chain; but, when he was in Rome, he sought me diligently, and
found me - The Lord grant unto him to find mercy
of the Lord at That Day - and in how many things
he ministered at Ephesus, thou knowest very well.”
Surely, if Paul was moved to interpose this fervent
ejaculatory prayer on behalf of one who was not only called, but had also shown
himself faithful by fearlessly ministering to the Lord’s servant while he was
fighting with wild beasts at Ephesus, and, subsequently, at Rome, when he was
in the clutches of the most unscrupulous and cruel of persecuting tyrants -
surely, if the Apostle was impelled to pray for such a one, that the Lord would
grant him mercy in the Day of His judgment, there can be no [regenerate] believer who
is not in need of the same mercy.
Hence the
decisions issued from the judgment-seat of Christ will have the following
results:-
Those
servants of the Lord who shall be found to have been faithful will be judged
worthy of the First Resurrection, and
will immediately be made Priests of God and of His Christ, and will reign with Him for a Thousand Years. They
will thus enjoy the great Sabbath that remains for the people of God,*
and will themselves rest from their works, even as He did from His.
[* See Heb. 4: 1-11, R.V.]
But the unfaithful
servants will be banished into the darkness without the pale of the [Millennial and Messianic] Kingdom,
where they will be detained,
and dealt with according to the
sentence of the Lord, until the Last Day. Then, when the time of
reward has passed by, He will raise
them up to everlasting life, even as He
has promised to do in the case of all
who have believed on Him.
*
* *
LOVE BEHIND
THE PURGING
“The fire shall try every
man’s work of what sort it is” (1 Cor. 3: 13). Humbly, thankfully, lovingly, we will
remember that the Master who will preside at the scrutiny of his judgment is at
the same time the Lord who loves us and gave Himself for us.
To Him His unworthiest workman is unspeakably dear,
with that love which springs unbought in a Saviour’s heart. He will never be
harsh; He will never be unfair. He will forget no
extenuation; He will have understood every difficulty. Nevertheless, His eyes
will be quite open and He will express His entire opinion of what we have done
through the body. And His opinion will be followed,
assuredly, by results which will somehow affect the experience of the servant
even in the world of light and immortality. So, in
- H. C. G. MOULE.
-------
SERVICE
In the Millennial Age there
will probably be spheres of influence assigned, and those who have proved their
fidelity in service now will have a sphere of high and holy service then,
in proportion of their faithfulness now. Evidently service for the Lord is entrusted
to us now, not so much for its own sake, (God could do His work as well as
without us as with us!) as by way of a test. If we do not pass the test we
shall, though saved, “suffer loss” (1
Cor. 3: 15). If we live and serve so as
to win the Master’s approval, most honourable and wonderful service will
be entrusted to us during the days of the [coming millennial] Kingdom.
Sharing the life of Christ, and walking with Him is sweet fellowship in the heavens, we are destined to be the instruments of His holy
government then, and thus shall “reign with Him.”
- The Prophetic Digest.
*
* * *
* * *
748
A FORECAST
OF COMING JUDGMENT
He opened the Pit of the abyss; and there went up a smoke out of the pit,
as
the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and
the air were
darkened
by reason of the smoke of the pit. - Rev. 9: 2.
IN
these days when Vesuvius has been so
much “in the news,” it is of peculiar interest
to turn to the only contemporary account that has come down to us of the first
great eruption of Vesuvius in the year
A.D. 79 - 12 years after St. Paul’s arrival in Rome. The description was
written by the celebrated Roman advocate and man of letters, Pliny,
known as “the
Younger” to distinguish him from his uncle, Pliny the Elder, an equally well-known figure in his day in Rome,
who lost his life in the eruption.
I
Pliny’s
account of the disaster is given in two letters
written a few years after the event at the request of his friend Tacitus, the Roman historian, who was
collecting material for a history of the terrible occurrence. Although written
almost two thousand years ago, his description of the event, of which he was an
eye witness, is so vivid and fresh that it reads like
an account from a Press correspondent on the spot to-day.
II
For
long ages in the pre-Christian era, Vesuvius,
now bare, stony, frowning, and seamed with black
volcanic rock, was a scene of Elysian beauty and golden serenity. Clad to the
summit with groves of chestnut, oak and pine, it was a
pasturage for flocks and herds, while vineyards, orchards, ornamental
gardens, fountains, statues and luxurious villas belonging to patrician
families of imperial
III
The
elder Pliny, who was residing at Misenum (now Cape Misno), on the northern promontory of the Bay of
Naples, where he commanded the fleet, put to sea that he might have a nearer
view of the strange happening. He invited his nephew to accompany him, but the
young man, then in his eighteenth year, was more interested in literature than
in natural phenomena, however unnatural, and pleaded a literary task as excuse
for remaining at home. Uncle and nephew never met again. The spreading smoke
and the rain of cinders and volcanic matter soon caused the admiral to realise
the danger to life for all in the neighbourhood of the mountain. He at once
gave orders for the galleys of the fleet to proceed across the bay to the
little town of
IV
Pliny
the Younger decided that he must take his mother away from the town. A
panic-stricken crowd at once began to follow them. As is the way of refugees
flying from danger, “they preferred the ideas of
others to their own.” The remark has a strange ring of familiarity in
the terrible days through which we of the twentieth century are now living,
especially as he continues - “They pressed on and
drove us on by their dense array.” The Pliny carriage had
been ordered to be made ready, but owing to the extraordinary rocking
movements of the earth, it was impossible to use it. Mother and son had to
proceed on foot. Ashes began to fall and a dense dark mist spread over the
landscape, blotting out every familiar feature. It was broken
only by blue sulphurous flashes of forked lightning and sheets of flame.
A still denser darkness descended, “not such as we
have when there is no moon, but such as there is in some closed room where the
lights are extinguished.” The blackness of the night
was rent by the shrieking of women, the crying of children, and groans of men.
“Many were raising their voices seeking to recognise
by the voices that replied parents, children, husbands or wives. ... Many lifted their hands in prayer to the gods; more were
convinced that there were now no gods at all, and that the final endless night
of which we have heard had come upon the world.” He believed he was
perishing in company with the universe and the universe with him - “a miserable yet a mighty solace in death.” - L. MILNE RAE.
*
* *
No
reference to volcanoes would be complete without mention of the greatest explosion within the recorded history of mankind - the eruption of Krakatoa on August 27, 1883. Krakatoa lies in the
Possibly
these two explosions created additional under-water fissures. Whatever the
cause, there was another comparative lull for a few hours, and then at 10. 2
a.m. the greatest explosion in the history of Man burst upon the world. In a
roaring cataclysm of noise which shook the world, a
whole cubic mile of pulverised rock was shot 17 miles into the air. A vast wall
of water, roaring across the seas at 350 miles an hour, devastated hundreds of
miles of shore line and was felt across the whole of
the
The
blast of air threw down walls in
One
effect of this mighty explosion was seen for years in the bizarre sunsets which were caused by the vast cloud of volcanic
dust, which made eight recognizable circuits of the earth. This dust finally
settled on every continent. - FRANK W. LANE.
-------
RESURRECTION
A writer
gives us thoughtful reflection. “Paper - that article so useful in human life, that repository of
all the arts and sciences, that minister of all governments, that broker in all
trade and commerce, that second memory of all human mind, that stable pillar of
an immortal name - takes its origin from
vile rigs. The rag dealer trudges on foot, or drives his cart through the
towns and the villages, and his arrival is the signal for searching every
corner, and gathering every old useless shred. These he takes to the mill, and
there they are picked, washed, shaped, and sized, in short, formed into a fabric beautiful enough to
venture unabashed even into the presence of monarchs and princes. This
reminds me of the resurrection of my mortal body. When deserted by the [life-giving
‘spirit’ (Luke 23:
46, R.V.) and the] soul, I know not what
better the [unredeemed (Rom. 8: 23)] body is than a worn and rejected rag. If a man can produce so
pure and white a fabric as paper from mere rags, what should hinder God by His
mighty power from rising this body He made out of dust, and re-creating and
refining it into the image of the Risen Christ?”
*
* * *
* * *
749
THE RETURN OF ELIJAH
By MICHAEL P. BAXTER
The future
personal coming of Elijah to herald and proclaim the futuredescent
of Christ upon this earth is understood by nearly all standard rxpositors to be distinctly foretold by Malachi, in the
concluding words of the Old Testament: “Behold I will send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the
children, and the heart of the children to their
fathers, lest I came and smite the earth with a
curse.”*
*The
Hebraist Kimchi renders the words of
this verse, “turn the heart of the fathers with
the children, and the heart of the children with
the fathers.”
The Jews, even at the present day, preserve the
expectation of Elijah’s reappearance by placing a cup of wine at their annual
passover feast in readiness for his anticipated arrival; and it is said, that
at their marriage feasts, they leave a chair, and a vacant place similarly
waiting his return; and also if they cannot understand any passage of
Scripture, they utter an expression denoting that it will be explained to them
by Elijah, when he comes. Ridley
Herschell, a Jew, thus describes their Passover
feast: “In the celebration of the Passover, two large
cups are filled with wine. One of these is taken by the
master of the house, and a blessing pronounced. Fter
this blessing, the head of the family gives the cup to all those sitting
around. He then brings forth the hidden cake, and distributes a piece to each.
The second cup of wine, called Elijah’s cup, is then
placed before him; the door is opened, and a solemn pause of expectation
ensues. It is at this moment that the Jews expect that the
coming of Elijah will take place, to announce the glad tidings that the Messiah
is at hand, Well do I remember the interest with which, when a boy, I looked
toward the door; hoping that Elijah might really enter; for notwithstanding the
dissappointment year after year, his arrival is still
confidently expected.”
As
Mayer says, “As Chrysostom and Hieronymus, so all the rest of the
fathers did constantly hold that Elias should come in the body, before the day
of judgment, to convert the Jews and oppose Antichrist. A belief in the
reappearing of Elijah ‘before the great and dreadful day of the Lord’ has
always been so strong among the Jews, that it is a custom unto the present day,
when a devout Jew mentions a city or country, for him to add ‘May it stand
until Elijah,’ that is, until the coming of Elijah. That Elias the sufferer has
come (Typically in the person of John the Baptist); each corresponding as the
Lord Jesus seems to intimate, one with His Advent in humiliation, the other
with His coming in [manifested] glory.
“Our Lord, after John had been beheaded, said to Peter in the future tense, ‘Elias truly shall come and restore
all things.’ So that
apostle when subsequently addressing the Jews, mentions the time of the
restitution, or restoring of all things, as being immediately connected with
Messiah’s second advent. Evidently if the time for restoring all things be not
until the second coming of Christ, John the Baptist could not have restored all
things at the time of the first advent” (Acts 3: 21; Matt. 17: 11),
- The
Prophetic News.
*
* * *
* * *
750
THE RAPTURE OF ELIJAH
By D. M.
PANTON, B.A.
Every
dispensation has had its rapture - the first sheafs
of the on-coming harvest: the Patriarchal - Enoch; the Legal - Elijah; the
Christian - Christ: and Elijah’s character and experiences are Legal from end
to end. Tenntson once said to a stranger, - “I like you; you are vivid, you are vivid as lightening”:
and that was just Elijah. He comes suddenly out of the darkness, with no date
to his arrival; we are not told his age, nor who was King of
Israel when he disappeared. Elijah was always a prophet of judgment; he
always appeared like lightening at judgment-crisis in
Preparation for Rapture
Elijah
(unlike us) knew the day of his impending rapture. So did Elisha. And the most remarkably symbolic action preceded ot - Elijah smote the waters of death with his mantle, and
passed over dryshod. When dead Joseph and Jacob had
passed, in type of resurrection; living Caleb and
Joshua passed over, in type of rapture. The moment of rapture finds us exactly
what we are: neither death nor rapture makes any magical change in character.
In the last day on earth Elijah was filled with the
ordinary avocations of a holy life. When John
Wesley was asked how he would spend the day if he knew it was his last day,
he replied, “Just, madam, as I intend to spend it,”
and then he handed her the list of his engagements for God that day. Every step
of Elijah was with God: “the Lord hath sent me to
Rapture
Now
the mighty event happens. Elijah and Elisha were upon the uplands beyond
*
Our Lord’s warning to
Search for the Rapt
We
now reach the most valuable portent for our own days. How did the world regard
the rapture of Elijah? As it will regard ours. Though
told of the [selective] rapture, they
immediately disbelieve it. They
offer fifty strong men, hardy mountaineers, to search for Elijah in the
mountain passes, or at the foot of the precipices; and they press the offer
until Elisha blushes with shame at their unbelief, and says, - “Well, send to convince yourselves.” Bodily ascension into Heaven they will not
believe; but God has got Elijah where no human serach can find him. “Enoch was not found” (Heb. 11: 5): of Elijah we read, - “They found him not”: to this day our Lord’s body has never been
discovered. There is only one man who can find the body of Enoch or Elijah or
Christ, and that is the man who, having their spirit is rapt [sometime
in the future] to their home.
Mocking at Rapture
So
there is now revealed to us how the world regards [a selective and conditional] rapture. They
believe the fact, for they had seen it: nevertheless
they only mocked. Young people, seeing Elisha had not gone, cried, - “Go up, thou bald head; go up, thou bald head” (2 Kings 2:
23). And Elisha cursed them; “and there came forth two she-bears out of the wood, and tore forty and two children of them,” So God’s curse will fall in His awful judgments on a
mocking world. “If
ye walk contrary unto me, and will not hearken
unto me, I will send wild beasts among you, which will rob you
of your children” (Lev. 26: 21). It is exactly a judgment foretold by God:- “to kill by the wild beasts of the earth”
(Rev. 6: 8). God’s
saints will not only be rapt, [conditionally]* but
will be notably avenged.
[* Rev. 3: 10. cf.
Luke 21: 34-36.]
Preparation for Rapture
So
now we close on the great ‘Deliverer from the Coming Wrath’. ‘Brightest and best of the sons of
the morning’, our Lord is really the only Morning Star; for Enoch*
and Elijah, as all the early Christians believed, are coming again to earth, as
judgment prophets against Antichrist, and will die: Jesus alone has been rapt [i.e., by resurrected from ‘Hades’
and ‘out of dead
ones’ (Acts 2: 31, R.V.; Acts 4:
2, Lit. Greek)] “in the power of an endless
life.” Elijah was
the man of all men, the prophet of all prophets, who was supreme in his
devotion to Jehovah: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? He that hath clean hands and a pure heart”
(Ps. 24: 3).
The word ‘enoch’, our
other great forecast of rapture, means ‘dedicated’,
‘disciplined’, ‘devoted’.
[* There are Christians
today, who believe Moses will accompany
of Elijah as God’s
‘Two Witnesses’ (Rev.
11: 3,
R.V.)!]
(To be continued, D.V.)